Khai awoke the next morning to sound of talking in one of the near rooms. As the remenants of sleep left him, he looked around the room, now much more well lit than the previous day. He was laying on a stone bed covered in dark grey animal pelts. Khai recognised them as Coatie pelts, a common herd animal known for its hardiness, able to survive and produce resources in any environment. He noticed the small pile of clothes left on the end of his bed, noting that they matched the loose fitting browns and greys the others in the group wore.
There were two other similarly covered beds in the room with him, both empty. It was a fairly small room, the three beds taking up the majority of the space. The corners were lined with the moss, now giving off a strong green glow. Does it follow a day and night cycle somehow? Or did someone manually change the amount of light it gives off? Finally, Khai noticed the large amount of rubble around the floor of his bed, he hadn’t considered how his bed had been made so quickly but he assumed it was to do with the noises he’d first heard when he arrived yesterday. Khai made a mental note to thank the others for it later.
Sitting up, he listened to the faint sounds of conversation drifting through the doorway, the occasional grunt or noise of frustration mixed in between the lulls. Khai paused, he knew how drastically everything had changed since he’d woken up yesterday. He wasn’t in his hut, he didn’t have his family around him, the sounds of the ocean and the frustratingly loud birds filling the air were distinctly missing. He still hadn’t accepted the loss, losing everything so suddenly had an odd effect on the mind. It didn’t feel quite real yet, he knew it was real and that they were all gone, but the emotion wasn’t there. He thought back to the Spirits words, he needed to get stronger as quickly as possible. The first thing would be to figure out how to use his Khaor, if he even had one? Teo and Velodin had both acted as if he had one, and after seeing what Jorn did with the knife last night he was excited to find out what he could do.
Standing, he changed into the clothes left on the edge of his bed and headed into the next room. Finding no one present in the small hub, the sounds of conversation now more clear, he could tell the others must have been by the lake. Following the sounds of people, he was greeted by a bowl of something resembling a thick soup held out by a smiling Jorn.
“Glad to see you found the clothes, looks a good fit too. Lucky that you’re the same size as Vash, otherwise we’d have been squeezing ya into one of Hoke’s sets” Jorn laughed as he patted Khai on the back, earning a bemused look from Hoke, before the slim boy returned to his own bowl.
“Thank you for the clothes, and the bed, and helping me last night, and..” Khai stammered, unsure how to show his appreciation succinctly, the words falling out as soon as he thought them. Jorn interrupted him before he could get any further. “Think nothing off it lad, we take care of our own. Besides, Vash got your bed all made and offered his spare clothes up. He won’t admit it but he was right excited when he heard we were getting a new recruit. How’d he do with the bed? A bit of a rushed job but it’s nothing a pile of Coatie fur can’t fix. Propper soft buggers they are, just don’t be telling Teo, he’d throw a fit if he knew how many we’ve got stocked away down here.” Jorn chatted on, Khai smiled and nodded, though his focus had been stolen by the pair sparing by the lakeside.
Vash and Leena were dancing back and forth, Vash throwing blow after blow at the woman as she swifty avoided his fists. Vash was clearly getting frustrated, each attempt to hit Leena becoming more bull headed and predictable. Leena, obviously aware of the effect she was having on her attacker, letting Vash gain ground as she stepped away from each swing, luring him closer to the water behind her.
“They’ve been at it for a while now, it’s the same most mornings. They bicker like ankle-biters but they love a good scrap in the mornings. Poor sod’s gotta be regretting his little trick yesterday by now though, here watch” Jorn interjected at the distracted Khai, nodding towards the two combatants slowly moving toward the waters edge. Vash, his breathing becoming more unsteady with each punch was visibly tiring as he maintained his assault. Taking a step forward, Vash followed his motion with a heavy punch, twisting his whole body into the attack. Leena tensed, springing her trap and twisting her body to avoid the heavy blow. She put one hand on Vash’s arm and another on the back of his head, using Vash’s own momentum along with her force to throw the boy into the lake with a loud splash.
“He’s got the spirit, but I’ll be damned if that boy ever uses his head when he fights. That’s got to be the third time this week he’s been dunked like that. You watch, he’s gonna pop up any second all grouchy-like and complain about getting wet” Jorn said. True to his word, Vash did pop up a few moments later to do just that.
“Oh come on, did you have to throw me in again Leena? It’s freezing in here” Vash complained.
“Get out of there so we can go again. If you don’t want to get soaked then you shouldn’t be so predictable” Leena taunted, walking back over to their starting positions.
“How many losses is that today Vash? Was that the third or fourth this morning?” Henny jeered, laughing as Vash pulled himself out of the water, squelching as he moved over the mossy stone. Henny was sat atop the table facing the two fighters, picking the small fruits from the bowl of mush on her lap.
“How about you join us Hemmy? Easy to say when you aren’t the one trying to hit her.” Vash called back, grumbling as he walked back over to join Leena. Henny glared at Vash’s back, mumbling something and looked down at her food. Apparently that was a sore spot for the twin, Khai thought.
“Enough messing around you two, if yer gonna spar then get some Kaor practice in. It’ll be good to give Khai a little demonstration of what you can do.” Jorn called to the pair.
Khai walked over and sat by Henny, she gave him a small smile and looked back at her food.
“Vash, I want you using a full fist this time. Leena, nothing sharp please. I don’t want to have to take him to Brennie this early, she’s a right grogger before she drinks that plant water.” The two fights both gave a nod of understanding, setting their stances and facing one another.
Jorn walked over to the table, sitting beside Hoke. The male twin had finished his food and looked up from his bowl, he gave Khai a nod with a quick smile that Khai took to mean hello and fixed his attention on the pair preparing to spar.
“Right then lad, I told you some of the basics last night but truth it. It’s much easier to understand a Khaor by watching it in action.” Jorn explained. Khai watched in anticipation as the two took deep breaths. After a few moments, Khai watched as Vash’s hand began to change, the skin shifted and started to darken to a deep shade of grey. Vash winced slightly as layers of the material grew to cover his whole hand, encasing it in the rough layers atop the skin.
Jorn, nodding in appreciation, called to the pair. “Nice work lad, you’ve got a lot faster at shifting that into place, reckon you can keep it in place for a few hits?” Vash made a noise of agreement and nodded, not taking his eyes away from his opponent. Jorn continued to instruct the pair. “How about you stick with a staff today Leena, lets see if Vash can break it this time. Feel free to knock him about a bit though, can’t let him forget about his defence.”
Leena also nodded. She pressed her hands together, the skin around her hands lightening slightly to mirror the sky on a clear day. As she pulled her hands apart, a long shaft of ice appeared, seemingly connected to both palms. Once she had brought her hands far enough apart, a sharp cracking sound rang out as she separated the ice from both palms before catching the falling staff. Gribbing the ice-staff in both hands and setting herself into a defensive stance, Leena nodded to Vash.
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“Begin!” Jorn bellowed.
As soon as the words were called both fighters leapt forward. Vash raised his armoured fist to initiate with an uppercut aimed under Leena’s staff, who had anticipated the attack and brought her staff back defensively, letting the punch glance off of the ice-staff and using the end to deliver a quick knock to Vash’s knee in return.
Khai’s eyes were wide as he watched the pair exchange hits. Beside him, Henny gave Khai a quizzical look before speaking. ”I can’t believe you didn’t have anyone with a Kaor on your island. I thought they were everywhere.” Her voice was gentle, pleasant to listen to.
“Me too, having aspects like this would have made life way more interesting. I don’t know why we didn’t have any” Khai replied, not looking away from the pair trading hits. A loud crack sounded through the air as Leena brought her staff in a wide arc toward Vash’s side. Vash brought his fist up and managed to block the blow in time, bracing his layered fist with his other arm to absorb the blow.
“I suppose this is a good a time as any for a little bit of teachin, take a look at them pair over there, you want to take a guess at their attunements Khai?” Jorn asked, scratching at his cheek as he watched the pair sparring.
Khai thought for a moment. “Oh I didn’t think to check, you do know the six Elementals right lad?” Jorn continued.
“I do yes” Khai replied, holding up his hands as he counted off the Elementals from memory, whilst Spirit was the primary deity worshipped on the island, everyone was taught about the other five as part of basic history as a child. “Spirit, Darkness, Flame, Water, Air, Earth. That’s right isn’t it?” Khai looked at the Rhenor for confirmation. Jorn nodded. “That’s right, so who do you reckon Vash is attuned to?”
“Earth? His skin looks a bit like a rock when he puts his fist up like that. Wait, it looks similar to Velodin’s skin now that I think about it.”
Vash turned to throw his armoured fist toward Leena’s chest, forcing Leena to bring the staff up defensively. With a loud snap the pole split in two, leaving half in each hand.
“That’s right lad, He can form a layer of stone over his skin as you can see there. Took him a while to cover his hand like that but it gives him a mean punch if he can keep it together like that. However, don’t be letting Velodin hear you say that. He can be a little touchy about his stoneness” Jorn added, nodding appreciatively as the two continued sparring.
Leena had quickly adapted to her new weapon, bringing each new smaller staff around in a torrent of attacks across Vash’s body. Unable to block every hit, Vash grit his teeth as he suffered the barrage of blows, trying unsuccessfully to land a hit of his own to disrupt the attacks. Leena focused multiple hits on Vash’s covered hand, slowly chipping away the stone covering his skin. Cracks started to form along the stone, revealing reddened skin underneath.
Jorn continued his explanation “So, knowing all that. What do ya reckon Leena’s attuned to?”
“I’m not sure, I guess Ice is a form of water?” Khai answered, the uncertaintly clear in his voice.
“Correct, the lass is technically attuned to water but she got an ice Kaor knocking about inside her. Lets her make some weapons out of the stuff, only simple things mind you but she’ll only get more options as she hits the higher tiers.” Jorn explained.
Khai nodded along, watching the fight come to its end. All of the stone covering Vash’s hand had been chipped away now, leaving a tired looking Vash defending the onslaught of attacks from Leena’s dual weapons. “That’s enough you two, good work the pair of ya. Come get some food before Hoke eats it all. Jorn called out, ending the mock battle.
The pair stopped at once, both breathing heavily and visibly exhausted. Leena tossed the broken staff into the lake whilst Vash shook his hand out, the remaining rubble of stone falling free. Both walked over to the table and grabbed a bowl.
After shovelling a few mouthfuls into his maw, Vash took a breath to speak. “I thought I had you there, first time I’ve broken one of your weapons and you still manage to smack me around with it” Vash absently rubbed at his arm and sides where he’d received the most damage.
“You did a lot better that time, it took me more hits than I expected to knock that stone off.” Leena praised, causing Vash to smile proudly. “You still lost though” She added, causing Vash’s smile to turn to a look of bemusement.
“That’ll do the both of you” Jorn interjected. “Henny, Hoke. Any thoughts on what they could have done better?”
Hoke nodded, bringing both arms up in a defensive position to cover his face before nodding toward Vash.
Jorn nodded in reply. “Exactly Hoke, Vash you need to work on your defense still. You’ve got the hang of the punching but until you can cover your whole body in the stuff then you need to protect yerself more.” Vash nodded, opening his mouth to respond but Henny beat him to it.
“Leena let her weapon get broken.” Henny added quietly.
“That she did lass, and it worked out well this time. But if someone with a bit more oomph in their swing, or someone using something sharp had got through your staff then that would have been it for ya. I know you don’t like the staff but try and move with your weapon more, you’ve got the agility for it but you look all stiff waving the big thing about.” Jorn explained. Instead of arguing both combatants accepted the criticism, both their previous bravado and witticism replaced with a respectful demeanour as Jorn spoke.
“What’dya make of that anyway Khai? Once we figure out what you can do we’ll have you sparring better than that in no time.”
Khai’s smile faultered for a moment. He had no idea if he had a Kaor, letalone what to do with it. Before he could respond Jorn continued.
“Don’t worry lad, we’ll start with the basics and work you up from there. You can join Henny in her circulation training today and we’ll see if we can work out what you can do.” Jorn smiled as he spoke, patting Khai on the shoulder with a meaty hand. Khai didn’t miss the slightly downtrodden look on Henny’s face as Jorn said this, but it quickly disappeared as she looked toward Khai.
“That’s great. It’ll be nice to have some company for a change.” Henny said, a slightly forced smile on her lips.
Vash placed his bowl down, seeming to realise he was still soggy from his earlier sudden swim he shivered slightly. “Jorn, any chance you want to help me dry off a little” Vash asked, a pleading smile on his face and eyes wide in innocence.
“Nope, you got yerself into that state and you can dry yerself off. I reckon some stamina training should do it ay? Get that bowl away and take this” Jorn held out a folded piece of paper. “I need this running over to Brennie” Jorn held the paper out for Vash to take.
“But she might not be awake yet..”Vash looked around the room for support from the others, no one wanting to meet his eyes. “You know she hates being woken up early, I’ve still got the bruise from last time she threw her chalk at me. Made me pick it up and give it back too.” Vash rubbed the back of his head.
Jorn smiled wide, placing the paper into the sodden boys hands. “Ha, I remember that one, gave me a right earful for sending you over. But that is exactly why I’m sending ya, boy. If you can’t dodge or even stone-skin yourself to protect a measly piece of chalk then how’re ya gonna stay alive when you fight actual beasties?”
“But I..” Vash made one last hopeful look around the room, each member suddenly finding their empty bowls fascinating. “Fine, I’ll go” He said reluctantly. Grumbling as he walked out of the room Khai thought heard something along the lines of ‘stupid chalk throwing crazy, I’ll show you who can dodge’.
Just as Vash was leaving the room, Leena called after him. “Oh Vash, could you let her know I’ll come by the dome later today. I want to see how the new colony is doing.” A brief wave of his hand over his shoulder was the only acknowledgement Vash gave of the request, and with that he set off in a jog.
“Right then, Hoke you can be Leena’s sparring partner for a while.” Jorn said as he stood up. The Rhenor appeared to hobble for a few steps before getting into his stride and returning to normal. Hoke choked when he heard this, looking up sheepishly at a smiling Leena.
“Come on kid, I promise not to chuck you in the water this time. Probably” Leena smiled with the side of her mouth, her eyes turning predatory at the newest challenger being fed to her. The pair got up and walked over to the sparring pit, which was a loose name for the area most heavily covered in moss near the lake.
“Polish off your bowls and lets head into the other room. We’re gonna want a little more quiet while we teach you about circulation. Henny can teach you some elemental history while we’re at it” Jorn said, walking out to the smaller hub room. Henny seemed to brighten at the mention of elemental history, she quickly polished off her bowl and followed Jorn. A few rushed mouthfuls later and Khai was following the pair out of the cavern, smiling to himself as the sounds of sparring began to fill the cavern.