The Shadow Skill (Basic K'tesh)

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

Early Cryxatum, Spring of Era XIII Post Fractum

Note: Sanura's speech, Min'raah's speech, others' speech. Italics indicate kattaspeak.



She heard the katta whispering about it at Longbeard's Tavern.

The Shadow Skill, they called it, in hushed voices. A katta slaughtered a roomful of humans and then disappeared without a trace. No one was able to track him down. He could fade in with the shadows, they said, and could run faster than a Cheetari. K'tesh, the shadow skill.

At first, Sanura had disregarded the story that she overheard as she sulked at the tavern for another night. She never drank - Sanura did not like alcohol. Instead, she would eat some steak or other meat as a meal. And when she came in there during the evening - watch out, she was looking for a fight.

This evening, however, she was quite peaceful. Instead, she was curious. She slid into a seat at the bar and waved the barkeep over. After dealing with a few customers, the dwarf came over reluctantly to the young Jagara, who looked at him evenly and asked, "Seraaa... do you know anyone who... teaches K'tesh?"

"Well, I might," he said slowly. "D'pends on who's askin." Sanura appeared to ponder the responsefor a moment before she suddenly reached across the bar and pulled him towards her with her left hand and then pressed a claw to his throat. "Whoa, whoa!" he objected. "A'right, ye c'n try that fella down th'r." The dwarf pointed witha stubby finger to a Leopardi at the end of the bar, drinking alone. Sanura released the dwarf and creeped up alongside the Leopardi. She spoke in smooth kattaspeak...

"Hello... I've heard that you teach the shadow skill."

The strange Leopardi turned suddenly, his head whipping around to face the female with a direct stare. "Mwaa mmnin pa, stranger, and why speak the old tongue?" His Common was considerably more eloquent than hers and he spoke evenly, without emotion.

"My name is Sanura Vi'uraan, and this is the best kind of speech, katta. "

"Av. Your words are music to my ears, Sanura."

"And do you teach this.. shadow skill, this K'tesh?"

"I do, young katta. Are you interested in learning it?" Once Sanura nodded slowly, the Leopardi continued. "Come with me, then. I will test your potential first, and we shall see if you are ready to learn K'tesh."

The Leopardi, finishing his drink, slid off of his stool and made for the door. His gait was very similar to Sanura's - elegant, graceful, but ultimately more like stalking than a human's walk. He made his way out of the tavern and onto the street, where he finally turned to face Sanura once again. "To practice K'tesh, one must have an intimate understanding of their own claws. Come now, let's see you fight. Understand that you truly will not battle any opponents head-on if you can help it - perhaps in other foolish Zinn'ka styles, but not in K'tesh. Do not worry - I won't so much as scratch you."

Although the Leopardi remained looking rather passive, with both arms at his side, but he nodded at Sanura to indicate that she was to begin. She quickly assumed a typical fighting stance for her - her right foot was slightly behind her left, but her body faced forward and both hands were pointed with their palms outward, with her right slightly behind. With that, she leapt forward, both arms coming with a powerful sweeping motion downward towards the Leopardi's head.

The Leopardi did the only possible defense against such a strong attack - he quickly moved out of the way to avoid the blow, saying as he did so, "Good! Your stance is excellent, though the strike could use more finesse."

Meanwhile, Sanura used the momentum generated from her missed strike to quickly return to stance and facing her opponent by stepping through the strike and sweeping her arms around. However, she chose a different method of attack. Instead of attacking with a downward motion, her arms shot upward to grasp the Leopardi's shoulders and then thrusted down again, throwing the Leopardi off balance. Finally, with a great swoop her her right arm, she swung for the Leopardi's head.

After allowing her to get a hold of him, the Leopardi attempted to block her great strike with an extended left arm, but his arm collapsed completely under the force of the attack. Luckily, however, the presence of his arm allowed him the extra moment to shift his weight slightly backward, which caused her strike to only hit his arm. The strike's momentum also allowed him to perform a maneuver that was very risky, but he was able to pull off because of his speed. He spun counter-clockwise, briefly exposing his bare back to his opponent, and then struck her across the head with a backhanded right-hand attack.

With her weight already moving from right to left as a result of her strike, the Leopardi's attack - which hit her from right side - sent her into the ground, falling hard on her right shoulder. She rolled onto her back, where she saw the Leopardi standing over her and extending a hand out to her, to help her up.

"I see that you are a strong fighter," he said in his smooth Common. "K'tesh will give you all the elegance you need to become more effective, and you shall be a force to be reckoned with."

"Your stance is good, Sanura," he continued once Sanura was standing again. "We call it forward claw stance. It will serve you well, and it is good you already have found a comfortable one for yourself. Are you still interested in K'tesh?" Sanura nodded.

"Then meet me, tomorrow at dawn, in the warehouse with the picture of a Pantheri fighting a human. It's in Serenity Hills."

Sanura smiled at the Leopardi as she nodded in agreement. "And you, katta, are called...?"

"They call me Min'raah. I shall see you tomorrow, then. Mmnin owa ti ka praal, krian."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The next brightening, Sanura spend a good half-candlemark searching for this warehouse. When she finally stumbled upon it, she was absolutely stunned.

A picture of a Pantheri fighting a human? The entire front side of the warehouse was a graffiti mural of a battle, katta against everything else. The katta all seemed to be exemplifying some fundamentals of K'tesh as well, although this was not as obvious. There were all races of katta, from Omnicats to Tigrons, and each one of them was executing some other race. The aforementioned Pantheri was delivering a powerful punch to the chest of a human, claws clearly ripping clean into the human's ribcage. An agile Persettie performed a doublekick against an elf, knocking the elf to the ground. A Lionoid uppercutted a mean-looking half-orc, claws extended and visible through the half-orc's open mouth. Most noticeably, at the center and over the garage-like entry of the warehouse, there was a larger-than-life Tigron performing K'tesh's most deadly and exhausting technique against a proud-looking dorin - the Disintegrator.

Sanura was just examining this feature of the mural when Min'raah appeared next to her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he said with obvious admiration in his voice. "I didn't do it myself, of course, but the katta who did draw all of this - an artist and a fighter, you know - was brilliant. How perfectly he captures the blood and torment!" Clearly, this Leopardi was a bit insane, but Sanura was glad to see him nonetheless.

"Yes, perfectly," she agreed. This was the first time she had spoken Common to the Leopardi, revealing her kattaspeak accent, but he did not seem to mind.

"Well, now that you're here, let's get started, shall we? First, we must get in there. We'll take the side-door first. No need to overwhelm you... " He approached a door that was hardly noticeable on the side of the warehouse and knocked on it hard a few times. The door opened a crack so that whoever was inside could see the visitors, and then opened fully. It was a shriveled and malnourished Tabbiri who walked with a bit of a hunch.

"Krri! Here, Sanura, this is the brilliant artist!" said Min'raah excitedly, embracing the Tabbiri tightly. Sanura looked at the awkward beast, immediately distrustful - partially because he was a domestikatta and partially because he simply looked a bit creepy. "Krri, meet Sanura - my newest student. She fights like a Lionoid, you know, all ferocity and spirit. But we will teach her to be as tricky as a Jagara ought to be, shall we not? Come on, then, Sanura, we have things to learn!"

Leaving the decrepit Krri behind, Min'raah led Sanura through another door. (The first room had only been a small room whose sole purpose seemed to be entrance to other parts of the warehouse, although there was a small bench and a coat rack.) This second room was still a bit small, but spacious enough to allow for free movement. Along one wall hung several different sizes of false claws that katta could use to protect their own claws. Another wall was covered with a mat, as was the floor. In the center of the room was a dummy. Other than that, the room was rather plain.

"Now I hate to be so forward about this, but I must - there is the issue of payment, of course. I cannot teach for free! I would be without a place to sleep if I did that. So the academy demands ten crowns per cycle per student - basic training will only take a cycle - but I've got to make some money too! How's about twenty crowns, eh? It's a bargain, really."

"The academy?"

"Yes, that's what these goons call themselves - the people who run the building, you know. It's really nothing more than a bunch of katta who like to fight, but they make us pay for overhead."

"That is fine, master katta," said Sanura, nodding in agreement. "I would be happy to pay you twenty crowns for this valuable training, think nothing of it."

"Good, good. If you disagreed, I would just steal it off you anyway," laughed the Leopardi, although Sanura was sure that he was quite serious. "Now, to the business of training you. We shall get you some practice nekodes first. That's what they call those claws up there. I highly recommend getting yourself a set - protects your claws, you know." He lifted a pair of the false claws and handed them to Sanura, and then showed her how to put them on. Sanura felt a little strange wearing them, but could also immediately tell that they would make her more powerful - much like a human wearing brass knuckles.

"They feel excellent," commented Sanura approvingly. Min'raah looked very satisfied.

"Good, good. You'll notice that on the practice nekodes, the sharp tips are filed down and blunted with some leather, so that you don't kill each other when you fight, but still - do not underestimate the power that those things give you."

"Of course not - I can feel that the will make my strikes stronger."

"Exactly right! Now back to business... assume that forward stance I told you about yesterbrightening... yes that's it."

Sanura stood in an athletic position with her right foot slightly back, but her shoulders squarely forward. Both of her hands faced forward, palms up, and her right hand was slightly back. She stood slightly crouched - thus, her two arms protected her entire body.

"I would like to teach you a basic claw punch this brightening. Very simple. Just shoot one hand out straight, driving your claws into the target." Min'raah demonstrated this, driving the claws of his left hand into the padded wall.

Sanura attempted the same, first with her left hand and then with her right. It felt extremely awkward to send her hands in a straight line forward like that - she was much more used to powerful, sweeping blows - but she could feel how they were much faster than her large movements.

"Good! Keep at it like that, Sanura!"

The young Jagara practiced the claw punches for what felt like candlemarks, both with her left foot forward and her right foot forward. She practiced left-left-left, right-right-right, left-right-left, and right-left-right. Then she moved to the much more exciting left-left-right and right-right-left, and then left-right-right and right-left-left. Repetition, it seemed was key to the teaching method at the "academy." Finally, when it felt like Sanura's arms were about to fall off, Min'raah told her to stop.

"You see how you are getting faster with practice? Excellent, very good. Come back tomorrow! We will continue!"

"Yes, I will be back tomorrow, Min'raah," Sanura said as she left. "May blood come quickly to your claws, katta."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

At the dawn of the next brightening, Sanura found the warehouse much more quickly than before, of course, and made her way to the side entrance. Initially, she only knocked politely, but after there was no answer, she pounded harder. After a moment, the door opened again with Krri peering out. Instead of immediately opening further, however, the door remained mostly shut.

"I am Sanura, a student here," she explained. Krri continued to stare blankly. "Open the door! I was only here yesterbrightening!" When Krri still did not open the door, Sanura finally lost her patience and pushed the door open through force. The Tabbiri was no match for Sanura's superior strength, but in a flash Krri had a claw pressed against her throat. Sanura froze.

"Sanura, silly krian! Krri, let her go!" Krri immediately released his grip on the Jagara. Sanura had never been so grateful to hear another person's voice. "Krri does not speak Common; he only understands kattaspeak." Min'raah laughed. "So if we don't want to let him know what we're saying, we only need to speak Common!"

"My apologies, Krri," said Sanura, nodding at the Tabbiri.

"Do not worry about it, Sanura. I know you now," responded Krri in a low, raspy voice.

"Well, then, let us continue the training!" Min'raah continued through to the room that the pair previously trained in. As he once again handed the practice nekodes to Sanura, he continued, "Drill punches, if you please."

Sanura immediately sat into her forward claw stance. Then, she began punching with the blunted nekodes, each one straight forward. After a few nods of approval, he began speaking again. Now that you have been introduced to K'tesh, let me ask you a question. First, why do you wish to train in the shadow skill?"

"There are two reasons," began Sanura as she attached the nekodes to her claws. "I am a guard at Nexus Gems and Jewels, and they wanted me trained in some unarmed combat... but more importantly, I was in Longbeard's one darkening and I happened to get into a brawl with a few dorins. I would like to be able to rip them up better next time." Sanura grinned as she said this.

"Very good, very good! Two solid reasons - I suspect you will go far, then, Sanura." He paused briefly. "Left-right-left and right-left-right! Relax your shoulders! Anyway, I have met many wishy-washy katta who study Zinn'ka for the so-called honor of it. Well, there is no honor in K'tesh! We kill as we need to! We struggle and we win! Leave no opportunity!"

The punches that Sanura threw changed to the back-and-forth pattern.

"Now, let me tell you about our art. The basic level of K'tesh is all about the use of claws, but do not be deceived. The shadow skill is a much more subtle and effective art than typical unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. A true practitioner of K'tesh can merge with the shadows as well as escape quickly and effectively. Left-left-right and right-right-left, Sanura."

Again, the pattern shifted according to Min'raah's demands. Her shoulders were beginning to get sore again, never having healed from the previous brightening.

"Now, you said that one reason you would like to learn K'tesh is to fight unworthy dorins, but I warn you that dorins also have their own version of the shadow skill. Of course, there are more katta practitioners, but even clawless races have begun to understand the great wisdom of K'tesh, often with the aid of nekodes like the ones you use now. Saurids and dracons have also developed their own methods. Left-right-right and right-left-left!"

Sanura changed seamlessly once more, struggling to keep her form good.

"Let me outline the basic level as you punch, then. Already I have taught you the basic claw punch, and you developed a good claw stance on your own. There are only two other important techniques for the basic level. First is a basic claw kick. There are several different kinds, including roundhouse kicks, shuffle kicks, and straight kicks. Any kick, really, with claws extended may be considered a claw kick. The second is a claw block. The claw block is not a true block, because it is an attack - as is everything in K'tesh. I will show you how to arrange your arms and legs to dig the claws in! Exciting, yes?"

As Min'raah smiled at Sanura, the Jagara was only getting more and more tired. It seemed that he had forgotten that she was punching rapidly all that time, and he quickly said, "Oh, you may rest, Sanura."

"Thank you," she breathed as she finally let her arms drop to her sides. Sanura did a few simple stretches that would help prevent them from being sore the next brightening. "What next, Min'raah?" The Leopardi laughed.

"Very energetic! Good, good. But I am more concerned about your muscles. You need some rest. I will teach you kicks tomorrow, giving your arms even more time to rest. Come back tomorrow!"

Sanura was silently glad that he dismissed her. The drilling may have seemed simple to anyone else, but several minutes of punching was utterly exhausting. "Of course, Min'raah. May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours.

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The next brightening, Sanura again knocked hard on the side door.

"Who are you?" came a smooth, silky voice, quite the opposite of Krri's, through the crack in the door. "I do not trust you, Jagara - begone."

With the bit of light streaming in from the sun, Sanura could see the small figure within - a small Omnicat who, despite her small size, looked like she had the ego of a hundred other katta. Sanura bitterly grimaced - of all the domestikatta, Omnicats were by far the most horrible. She had learned to bear the existence of Tabbiri and Calicori, but Omnicats she still could not stand. Anger built up in her and Sanura assumed the forward claw stance. With one mighty kick - it was her right that went flying forward - to the door, the door swung open knocking the Omnicat back. In a moment, Sanura was upon her. Left-right-left. Right-left-left. Right-left-right.

"Stop!" Min'raah's voice briefly drifted through the air, but Sanura hardly heard it. "Stop now!" The kattaspeak made no difference - the only reason that Sanura stopped was because Min'raah forcibly pulled her off the pitiful Omnicat. The small critter whimpered on the ground, bloodied and pathetic. Sanura stood above her, looking at the creature with contempt, spitting on her, as Min'raah pulled her away with both arms.

"Pay your betters some respect, Omnicat," said Sanura as she was led away.

"Well... I am sorry that she acted that way, but you should not have attacked her! Krri took the brightening off and we just hired her.... I will have to speak to her later, after she returns from the hospital, but for now... well, I suppose we should continue," said Min'raah at length as he paced within their training room.

"Well! After you're done with basic training, you ought to continue drilling punches. When you have more endurance, punch in rapid spurts of five instead of three. And now, the kicks! The good news about your little escapade is that you performed a decent snap kick - although, of course, there were a few things to work on. I will teach you a few kinds - starting with the snap kick and the roundhouse kick.

"First, the snap kick. In your forward stance, snap forward with your rear foot, claws extended."

Min'raah demonstrated the kick. After assuming the forward claw stance with his left foot forward, his weight shifted forward to his left foot as his right foot moved sharply forward.

"I understand," confirmed Sanura. She too assumed the stance and then quickly moved her weight forward, throwing her rear foot straight ahead.

"Good. Perform a few kicks against the dummy."

Sanura did so, snapping forward to slice and slice the dummy with both legs. The repetition went on as Min'raah critiqued small parts of her form.

"Now, we do not ever use kicks or punches alone without other attacks. That is why I had you do patterns in punches. I realize that you are tired, but follow kicks with each of the punching patterns and then you may go."

It was exhaustive, but Sanura completed the request without complaint. She painstakingly perfected each kick and punch, and then awaited Min'raah's judgment.

"Good work. We will work on roundhouse kicks tomorrow. You may leave."

"Thank you. May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The next brightening's entrance was not nearly so thrilling as the previous. Sanura knocked solidly on the door and it opened a crack, revealing the familiar face of Krri, who opened the door.

"Hello, Sanura. I heard about your incident yesterday. How exciting!" commented the Tabbiri in his low, raspy voice as he opened the door to allow her entry. Sanura smiled at him.

"Exciting, indeed, although Min'raah was rather upset about it. How is the Omnicat, anyway?" inquired Sanura, although her good-natured question was only answered with a laugh.

"Oh, who knows? I certainly haven't gone to the hospital to check on her! Do not worry about her, though - the hospital will fix her up fine. You have more important things to learn about!"

"If you say, Krri."

"I do! Oh, and Min'raah is already here. He's in your training room."

A soft chuckle escaped Sanura's lips. It was the first time Krri had ever spoken so much to her and he had neglected to tell her that her instructor was in fact already present, when all along she had assumed he was once again running late. Up until then, after all, she had always beat him to the warehouse.

When she opened the door, she found Min'raah moving the dummy into the center of the room. The Leopardi smiled at her as she entered.

"Serale, Sanura! Good to see you again. Have you been practicing those snap kicks? Not on anymore Omnicat targets, I hope, but practicing?" Sanura nodded at Min'raah's questions - she had thrown a few more around. "Excellent! Then we will get right to the roundhouse kicks." At last, he stopped fiddling with the dummy and stood to face her.

"The roundhouse kick is a very powerful kick, but it is also rather slow. Thus, it's important that you practice it to make it quick and strong. Basically, you will swing your back leg around and contact the target from the side."

Assuming the forward claw stance, Min'raah prepared to perform said roundhouse kick on the dummy. He quickly shifted his weight and rotated his hips, bringing his rear leg all the way around to come into contact with the dummy hard on one side. The dummy shook and almost fell over, but the heavy weights at the bottom helped it retain his position.

"Alright, well, I will try then," said Sanura, watching Min'raah's kick. It did not look too difficult.

Once Min'raah moved out of the way, Sanura assumed the front claw stance with her right foot back. In one fluid motion, she brought her leg hooking around and then slammed into the dummy's side. Min'raah nodded in approval.

"Good, but make sure you use your hips. Putting more force behind it makes it faster as well as stronger," commented Min'raah. "Oh, and by the way - I will speak much Common in these lessons. It is important for me to stay fluent, you know, and I spend so much time among other katta it would be easy to forget."

"Of course, I do not mind," answered Sanura as she attempted another kick. This one was indeed harder and faster as she shifted her hips to put more power into the blow.

"Good! Now the left side."

The rest of the lesson continued similarly as Sanura drilled right roundhouse kicks and then left roundhouse kicks. In time, they all became powerful strikes, but she could feel her legs tiring.

"Well, as I said before, you are not going to be using these tactics exclusively. So I'd like you to follow them up with a few sets of punches, alright?"

Sanura nodded. A right roundhouse kick to the dummy's midsection was followed by three claw punches to the head, and then a left roundhouse kick was followed with another three. Poor dummy. Sanura performed this several times before Min'raah finally told her to stop.

"Good work today, Sanura! Come back tomorrow and I will cover one last kick with you. A very, very effective and very simple kick that will utilize your claws beautifully. After all, the roundhouse can be performed by anyone, right? The stomp kick will devastate your opponents!" cried Min'raah excitedly.

"I look forward to it. May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The following brightening, Sanura returned to the warehouse with the macabre artwork, this time hardly noticing the bloody scene. Over the past few brightenings, she had gotten used to the sight and now found her way to the side door with ease, knocking hard to be received shyly by the withdrawn and rather sadistic Krri. He waved her in silently, and then with an open-faced hand indicated towards their training room. Min'raah must have already been there again, and Sanura stepped into the training room.

Indeed, Min'raah was again setting the dummy into the center of the room. At her entrance, he grinned broadly and waved to her, saying, "Just a moment, Sanura. There are just a few more additions for teaching to stomp kick." He grabbed some attachable protrusion - it was wood covered in leather that stuck straight out of the dummy, but then had a section where it turned downward towards the floor. Apparently, it was in imitation of a person's leg that might have been sticking slightly out.

"And one last little bit - here!" Min'raah grabbed a set of oddly shaped, dulled nekodes off the wall. "For your feet, so that you do not rip apart the dummy. This is a very devastating kick, you know."

Sanura obediently put on the nekodes, noticing that Min'raah was already wearing some. Although they did feel a bit strange to walk in, there was not a significant difference. Min'raah eyed her with excitement until she finally straightened up and faced him again.

"I am ready, Min'raah," she confirmed once she stood. Min'raah nodded.

"Excellent! Now, the stomp kick. It is a very simple, very quick attack that will rip your opponent's leg to shreds. Observe."

He faced the dummy in forward claw stance, his right foot forward. After quickly shuffling forward to close the distance between the two, he lifted his right foot - without shifting his body position - and then brought it crashing down on the "leg," scraping the nekodes against the target. Sanura winced at the sight, imagining claws ripping through flesh.

"Devastating, indeed," she commented rather frightfully.

"Yes! Now, you try. You can use either foot, regardless of the orientation of your stance, but start with the front foot. Go on, now!"

Sanura quickly assumed the claw stance, with her right foot back. Once within range of the target, she lifted her left foot and then forcefully stomped down on the leg, scraping her "claws" against the dummy.

"Good, but be sure that you are not leaning back during this kick. You want the force to be moving forward so that you are more threatening with more power behind your kick."

Sanura repeated the move, this time making sure to move forward as she stomped on the dummy's leg. This time, Min'raah was satisfied with her efforts. After performing this kick several times, she switched her stance so that her left foot was back and proceeded to kick with her right foot. Again, she required some corrections from Min'raah, but in time she had another satisfactory kick.

"And now the rear foot?" Sanura guessed. Min'raah nodded, pleased that his student had picked up on their pattern.

Again, repetition was the key to her learning. Sanura performed many rear-foot stomp kicks, which gave her noticeably more power in the kick. Once again, after this repetition, she was asked to follow each stomp kick with sets of punches.

"Let's try five-punch sets, hmm? Just alternate for now, and make sure those kicks are strong too!" said Min'raah enthusiastically, pleased at Sanura's ferocity. She kicked and punched repeatedly, her arms and legs both getting extremely tired by the last few. At long last, Min'raah stopped her.

"You have done very well, Sanura. I will see you again tomorrow. We will cover blocks, at last."

"Thank you, Min'raah. May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The next brightening, Sanura once again arrived at the training room, through the side door of the warehouse, with no special event. Min'raah was already present, fastening a set of nekodes over his own claws, and then indicated that Sanura should do the same.

"Well, Sanura, I promised today that we would work on blocks, but first, let us review what we have already covered. What have I taught you thus far, Sanura?" he asked as they both suited up.

"We began with the basic forward claw stance," began Sanura, remembering that first brightening when she actually fought Min'raah and he commented on her good stance. "Then we worked on the straight claw punch. And we have spent these past few brightenings practicing different kinds of kicks - the snap kick, the roundhouse kick, and the stomp kick."

"So we have! Good to hear that you have remembered everything. But we have only studied one punch, while we have studied three types of kicks. Has this crossed your mind?" asked Min'raah.

"It has," admitted Sanura, "but I assumed that there is some reason for it. Besides, there is yet time."

"There is, and I'm glad that you have faith in me!" laughed Min'raah. "Well, we shall see if that faith is well founded. For now, let us focus on the blocks."

Both Min'raah and Sanura were properly equipped with the dulled practicing nekodes and they faced each other in front claw stances, both with their right feet back.

"A block is not a complicated concept. The idea it merely to deflect another's strike by putting something in the way. For example - attempt to punch me, Sanura."

Sanura threw a straight punch with her right hand and Min'raah blocked it with his right by sweeping his right hand across, the blunt ends of his nekodes coming into contact with her formarm.

"See how this uses our claws? The claws will dig into the opponent's arm. Thus, our block is really another attack. Following this block, we may also attack from this position." Min'raah demonstrated this by sending a straight left punch.

"You may also block using a bit of a modified straight punch. Send me a left hook, Sanura." She did so, and Min'raah stopped the punch by sending his own straight right-handed punch into her upper arm, which completely stopped her movement. "Your turn, Sanura."

Min'raah slowly went through several attack sequences so that Sanura could practice both kinds of blocks with both forward stance orientations. Slowly, but surely, the attacks came faster and before long she was barely able to keep deflecting blow after blow. At long last, she grew impatient and went on the offensive, quickly striking her Leopardi instructor in the chest before he could get another strike in. He laughed heartily at the attack and both combatants let down their guard.

"Good, Sanura! I was wondering if you would catch on. You must remember that in battle, you must not only survive, but you must defeat your opponent."

"I will, Min'raah," promised the Jagara student.

"That is enough for today, then. Go home and practice all of your punches and kicks."

"Of course. May blood come quickly to your claws, Min'raah."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

When Sanura knocked hard on the side door the next brightening and the door opened just a crack to reveal Krri's weathered face, instead of opening further, the door remained quite still.

"Min'raah said to send you into the main room," hissed the Tabbiri through the door.

"The main room?" repeated Sanura, caught off-guard.

"Yes, the Tigron door. Go on, he waits for you, Sanura." His information given, Krri abruptly shut the door leaving Sanura to walk to the garage-like door at the front of the warehouse. She banged on it a few times before she heard Min'raah's voice -

"Mwaa mmnin pa!"

"It is Sanura, your student!" shouted Sanura through the door. With a few creaking sounds, the great door pulled itself open and Sanura stepped into the dimly lit main gymnasium.

It was a warehouse, alright. Large and relatively empty, save a few mats thrown around, a few punching bags, and a section of the room that appeared to replicate a cityscape. As Min'raah closed the door once more, the lighting decreased further, but everything was still clearly visible.

"This is the flesh and blood, the core, of the academy. Welcome, Sanura."

"How terribly exciting," commented Sanura idly, still taking in her surroundings. Min'raah laughed.

"You may think so now, Sanura, but we are not here to take advantage of any of the equipment. Rather, we are here to condition.

"I have delayed this integral part of martial arts for long enough. I will show you, this brightening, how to condition your body for the best possible physical shape. It will be up to you to continue your training. We will not do any actual fighting today. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good. Let us begin."

Min'raah set off around the gym at a lively pace that Sanura had no trouble keeping up with - for the first lap. The trouble was that there were three more laps after that first lap.

Once they finally finished their four laps, Min'raah proceeded to direct Sanura in sprints. She did three down-and-backs, and then another two suicides, then another three down-and-backs.

"Are you sufficiently exhausted?" laughed Min'raah. Sanura briefly wondered if her teacher was somewhat sadistic.

"Yes... but I can do more," offered Sanura. The Leopardi grinned at her.

"Good. You will need the strength and spirit for the exercises that follow."

The "exercises that followed" were simple, really. Push ups, sit ups, squats, and variations of those were the fare of the day. Of course, when the numbers of the exercises mounted, they became utterly devastating, really. Sanura knew that she would feel them the next brightening. There were at least three variations of each exercise that she learned, and she did them all to "exhaustion" several times.

And then, to top it all off again, they ran again. Two laps around, followed by two suicides and two down-and-backs.

"You have done very well, Sanura. Rest well tonight."

"Hah! I doubt I will be able to do much else. Well, may blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

"This brightening will be easy, so let us begin quickly. Get into your stance and begin drilling punches, alternating." declared Min'raah the next brightening once Sanura entered the training room. Sanura obeyed and he began to speak again. "It has been a while since we have last gone over everything, so once you review all of the techniques I have taught you thus far, you may go. Right-right-left. So - I know I asked you yesterbrightening, but all the same - what concepts have we learned?"

Sanura switched the punching pattern before she answered.

"Forward claw stance, punches, three kinds of kicks, and blocks. Those three kicks are snap kicks, roundhouse kicks, and stomp kicks," Sanura responded steadily.

"Good. Left-left-right." Once again, Sanura changed her punching pattern. "What is the goal of basic K'tesh?"

"We must learn how to use our claws most effectively," explained Sanura with little hesitation. Min'raah nodded, satisfied.

"Exactly, Sanura. Left-right-right. And what is the goal of more advanced K'tesh?" Sanura switched.

"K'tesh focuses on the ability of a person to blend into the shadows and deliver powerful attacks?" This answer was less certain, but she did what she could.

"Close enough," laughed Min'raah. "Right-left-left. And..." There was a long pause. "That's enough. Take a moment to rest."

Roughly a minute passed before Min'raah was once again asking Sanura to work. From there, he and Sanura reviewed the three kicks that they had covered and then also briefly went over the blocks, which she had just learned the previous brightening. When they were finished, Min'raah began to take off his nekodes and Sanura followed suit, although she was surprised.

"Finished so quickly?" she asked. Min'raah laughed.

"I told you today would be easy. A simple review before a more strenuous test tomorrow."

Sanura stopped and looked hard at her Leopardi teacher. "Test? What test?" But her questions were met only with a slight smile. "Alright then... May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Sanura Vi'uraan]

The next brightening, Sanura was unsure of where to reenter, but she decided to go to the side door anyway. She knocked hard on the door and waited for it to open, which it did - only by a crack. However, the face staring back at her was not Krri. Instead, it was a young Lionoid who was wearing a full set of leather armor.

"I am Sanura, a student here," said Sanura patiently, now knowing better than to simply kick open the door. The Lionoid stared for a moment, and then threw the door open, but not to allow Sanura inside. Instead, the Lionoid leapt out of the room, slamming into Sanura's shoulders with his two hands.

The tremendous force of the Lionoid knocked her off of her feet and onto the ground, the wind knocked out of her. Luckily, the ground was a simply packed dirt, or else her head bouncing off the ground might have done more damage than dazing her for a moment.

It certainly was not her stance, nor was it a position that she was used to fighting in, but Sanura immediately prepared to strike back. She positioned her hands in as close to the forward stance as she could - since the Lionoid's arms were in the way, she set her hands near her waist, palms facing up. With a great force, she drove her right-hand claws into his side so that he would feel it even through the armor. Indeed, the Lionoid rolled off and into the dirt.

Much quicker than the Lionoid, Sanura dashed to her feet while the he was still rising. While he was in a kneeling position, Sanura quickly assumed the forward stance with her right leg back and picked up her left leg. When she brought the clawed foot down in a tremendous stomp kick, it caught his right shoulder, upper arm, and thigh and sent him crashing back into the ground. If it weren't for his armor, he certainly would have been sliced to ribbons.

The Lionoid roared in anger, sending a weak left hook towards her, but she backed away. This was all that the Lionoid had wanted - the time and space to regain composure. He stood to his full height again, significantly larger and stronger than his Jagara opponent. He assumed a basic Shaasskah stance with a wide, stable base. Only then did it occur to Sanura that he did not belong to the school of K'tesh found in the warehouse. He would not be used to her attacks...

He glared at her for a moment before advancing into kicking range. With a simple side kick, he attempted to close the distance between then and then move in for more jabs, but Sanura stepped to the side and dodged the attack. When he threw a right jab, it was perfect - for her. Using the blocking technique that Min'raah had taught her, Sanura intercepted the punch, deflected it, and pierced her claws into his armor. Now wedged there for a significant grip, she pulled him slightly off balance by pulling on the arm and drove a left straight punch into his cheek.

The Lionoid screamed in pain as her claws were driven into his unarmored face. Sanura drew her arm back again, ready to strike again, when -

"That is enough, Sanura." Min'raah, who had been spectating only a few yards away, stepped into sight. Sanura released her hold on the Lionoid and he dropped to the ground before picking himself back up. Min'raah nodded to the Lionoid and he retreated into the warehouse.

"Good work. You have shown me that you understand all of the concepts I have taught you here." Min'raah smiled at his student. "I am quite proud of you... and the money?'

"Of course, sir," said Sanura, dusting herself off and then digging out the twenty crowns promised. She handed them to Min'raah, who swept them into a pocket in his cloak and then smiled at Sanura again.

"I am quite proud of you. May blood come quickly to your claws."

"And yours."

[Shorty]

Basic K'tesh Approved!