Colin's posts

Ash shook his head a little.

"Am I scared of Aunt Rocky? Oh yes." he replied. "Most everyone with rudimentary intelligence that know her are." he chuckled. "However, I know she won't do anything serious over THIS sort of thing... if anything at all." he reasoned.

"If she DOES disagree with it, then we'll discuss it as adults. I don't fear her, like most other people do. Maybe I'm a bit complacent because she's actually told me, a long time ago, that I was stronger than her. And since then, I've gotten even stronger." he shrugged.

"But I am confident I can take whatever she dishes out... even if it's verbal beatdown that leaves me feeling like shit afterwards..." he then mumbled.

"However, she's not going to stop me from training you." he insisted.

"The only one that can stop what's been put into motion... is YOU." he finished.

"That's what I like to hear." Ash responded.

"Soon enough, YOU'LL be able to outfight Vicki, and hold your own against your parents." he told her.

"...our parents." he corrected himself.

"Well... yes. Yes. Our parents. Ugh, our family tree is like a damn creeping vine." he grumbled, shaking his head a little.

"And I'll take any heat from Aunt Rocky over this." he assured her. "Demi will have no reason to really go after me. Jaden is... well, he's Jaden. Odds are he feels the more distance he places between himself and this situation, the better." he reasoned.

"Can't blame him for that." he admitted.

"But if Aunt Rocky comes looking for me because she's discovered this... I'll handle it." he promised.

Ash was silent for a moment as he heard that, before he sat down beside Alice, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't hate yourself for being what you see as 'weak'." he told her.

"Yes, if you were physically stronger and had more fighting experience, that might have ended a lot different." he admitted.

"But lamenting the past is no way to live your life." he reasoned.

"If you want to get stronger, do it because you truly want to, NOT because of some regrets in the past." he went on.

"...also, by the time I'm through with you, you'll be one of the best Fyrane fighters out there." he then chuckled.

Ash shook his head a little.

"Well, with Jaden... yeah. He knows how to sword fight... and that's about it." he agreed.

"Demi... hm." he then mumbled. "Demi's a strong woman. An independent woman. She takes orders from no-one." he continued. "...but everyone's scared of Aunt Rocky." he then admitted.

"And an empath being a detriment? Hardly!" he then exclaimed.

"You'd be able to sense murderous intent or overwhelming malice. Trained right, NOBODY or NOTHING would be able to get the drop on you!"

Ash nodded.

"All right." he said.

"Next time we spar, I'll get you a blindfold." he told her.

"We'll see what happens at that point." he said further.

He then stood up, and stretched out his arms skyward.

"That was a refreshing spar, though." he added.

"You have good reflexes on the whole." Ash responded.

"Just not great COMBAT reflexes." he told her.

"For what it's worth, you dodged better than Lindsay does." he then shrugged.

"As for any tips, spend time with your eyes closed." he suggested. "Just close them. Become aware of your other senses and let THEM tell you of your surroundings. Listen for subtle audio cues, feel slight changes in air pressure or wind direction, become aware of different scents and odours coming from all directions." he continued.

"In due time, those senses will be heightened on their own, and you'll be able to tune into them WITHOUT closing your eyes."

"Be more alert." Ash responded.

"Your awareness of your surroundings is too dull. You react too slowly. You need to know where your opponent is at all times. Even if that means you are aware of them seconds before they strike. Those seconds can save your life, or turn the tides of battle." he said further.

"Remember, if you can't hit your opponent, at least make it so they can't hit you, either." he summarised.

"Just try and work on your alertness and awareness." he went on.

"Your body will catch up invariably, but all the toughness in the world, all the bulking up means nothing if you can't fight, or are too slow." he said further.

"Look at our brother." he told her. "Is he stronger than me? Yeah. He's a LOT stronger than I am, physically, but... the only times he wins, is if I let him, or I'm feeling a bit under the weather." he whispered.

"He telegraphs his hand-to-hand maneuvers from a mile away, and by the time he's aware of where I am when we fight or spar, I could have hit him and been moving to another position." he finished, REALLY hoping it didn't sound like he was bragging about his own skills, or diminishing his brother's.

It was just to provide a practical example for Alice, one she would be able to understand more easily.

"Good." Ash responded.

"Once you've stopped being sore, we'll continue." he told her.

"Oh, right." he then muttered. He made his way to the cooler, and then returned with a bottle of water.

"You're going to need to hydrate." he said.

"Even if it hurts to move now, you're going to need to drink something now." he went on.

"It'll speed up your recovery more than one would think."

Ash finished his sandwich, and gulped down some of a bottle of water, before looking over at Alice, and rising to his feet.

"All right." he said.

"If you want to learn to fight, let's do it." he told her.

"Hand-to-hand, come at me with everything you have." he continued, as they walked to a more clear area of the backyard. "We'll see what needs improving." he said further.

Sure enough, by the end of it, which was close to 2 hours, Alice was weakened, had a few bruises, and had definite cuts from rough landings. And she was exhausted.

"I see." Ash commented.

"You have a minor amount of skill, but it needs to be amplified, and then refined." he told her. "You'll need to refine your aggressive fighting, and learn counter-measure fighting as well." he went on.

"But... you DO have potential." he admitted.

"You all right?" he then asked as he approached her.

"Dead?" Ash asked.

"Barely any." he said.

"Generally speaking, the animals in there know when they're outclassed, and leave when I assert my dominance." he told her. "Only time I ever have to kill an animal is if it's got rabies or some weird mental disorder." he explained further.

"...or if it actually becomes life or death." he then added.

"But there's also a lot of things I need to remember if I kill something." he went on. "Can I eat it? Is it even edible? Should I leave it out for scavengers? Would they get sick as well if they ate the carcass? Should I bring the body to their herd for a proper mourning and burial?" he asked rhetorically.

"I don't know of an exact number, but for every 35 times I enter those woods for a nice long walk, I kill 1 animal." he guessed.

Ash raised an eyebrow when he he heard that Rocky, Demi, AND Jaden all rejected it. It didn't insult him that he was this far down on her list, but he had to wonder why they rejected her.

"Yeah, sure." he said, as she then headed off and he watched her enter the backyard from the window in the kitchen.

She was out there for about 10 minutes, before she saw Ash come out with a pair of (rather nice-looking) sandwiches, and a small cooler, which had a bunch of ice and drinks inside it.

He walked over and sat down where she was at.

"Feeling hungry?" he asked.

"Eat if you are, have a drink if you're thirsty, but after I eat, we'll start training."

Ash seemed to pause as he heard her sudden request.

"...fight?" he asked, looking at her.

"I mean... yeah, sure." he said. "I can do that." he told her.

"If you want, join me for a light lunch and we can start immediately." he offered.

"But why the sudden interest in it?"

She saw the light in his eyes when he heard that.

"Welp, you DO know how to properly sell past the closure." he laughed.

"I'll get right on it, though." he told her.

A lot of time had passed, and Mikhail and Alice had made a lot of progress. A LOT. Alice had become quite skilled at controlling and suppressing her empath capabilities, and Mikhail had been reunited with his sister. As thanks, he continued to mentor Alice, even after his services were no longer needed, and was now even a friend of the family. Ash had helped both Vicki and Alice with their runes, and the two were becoming quite adept at them, much to Rowena's relief.

Ash was currently making up some lunch for himself, when he felt familiar mana appear in the den area of the manor.

"...Alice?" he muttered.

"In the kitchen!" he called out, so she'd know where HE was, at least.

Ash thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." he responded.

"I can do that." he told her.

"They really should learn from someone with practical experience, that isn't teetering on the brink." he reasoned.

"...not that you are, but... yeah, for you, slippery slope." he clarified.