The First Age

Sterling led Marta and the rest of the kids who were running about the sidewalk behind them, the little ones throwing snowballs at the older kids, but they kept their distance from Sterling and Marta. Everyone seemed to understand the space needed, and really it was only the Blackthorn girls who were overly rambunctious -- that was rich brats for you.

Nox's place was literally two buildings down from Kallilsti. And there was a new bar opening up across the street from that. A friend of Nox's who stopped by to check in on the kids -- some sort of therapist and doing a favor for Nox. Sterling didn't ask, but if Nox trusted him, then so did she. Nox didn't trust a lot of people even if it looked like he did.

Sterling pulled the glass double doors open and waved to the entrance going up stairs. "Hey Sky.  We are going downstairs."

The AI Sky spoke from her disembodied speark somewhere in the foyer. "The door is unlocked and I have placed the mechanical ball machines on lock down. Emma should be grateful."

Sterling giggled. "I'm sure we all will be much more at ease knowing we won't have to dodge flying balls."  Sterling led Marta around the corner where the elevator doors were locked close to the basement door on the other side. It wasn't visible from the doors they'd entered and she just turned the knob. Without Sky, they'd have had to wait for Liam or Liv to unlock the door. It wasn't a free for all like the foyer.

The stairs were well lit as they descended but the basement itself was dark. Even the recessed lights didn't really give off much light unless you were directly under them.  The dojo was at the far end of the building, the laundry and rec areas took up the other side. Liam made a beeline for the couch.  Everyone else filed into their usual places. The boys headed straight toward the gym area.  The girls into the spare room that Sterling was surprised anyone wanted to go into -- god only knew what Nox did in there.  

The dojo was just an empty space with six ball machines on the edge of the mat.  Nox used them to practice actual violence, which isn't what they were learning.  Maybe one day he'd let them try, but not all six at the same time. He used the power to defend himself, and he did it blind folded most of the time. He was pedantic about his training.

Sterling took off her shoes at the edge of the mat  near the far wall. "It's polite not to keep your shoes on, but if you have a thing, there are some footy covering things on the rack where we keep our shoes." Sterling showed Marta what she meant and then stepped on to the coushined mat and mobed to the center of it.  Gen stepped next to her and they both waited for Marta.

Gen tugged on Sterling's sleeve. "One Two then Three?"

Sterling smiled. "Yeah let's start with one. We might only do that depends on how Marta catches on k?"  

Gen nodded. "k"

Marta followed, a sense of excitement going through her. Elyse had had a lot of rules for them to follow. She understood why. The wolf could be strong when your emotions were messed with. Marta had understood that it was just because she cared, and had agreed to her rules without question.

Elyse had smelled different though when she had talked to the girl Mae on the phone. Mae was special to Elyse - more special than anyone else, and she had hear Elyse almost say it. Marta hadn’t smelled shame then, and Marta wondered if she’d ever feel that way about someone.

Marta shook her head from the thoughts as they entered the dojo proper. She took off her shoes and moved them to the side. There were machines near the mat, Marta guessed they were the ball machines the AI had said. Sterling had called it Sky. Marta wasn’t sure what to think about that.

Marta stepped onto the Mat next to Sterling. She hoped that this would be as fun as it sounded. ”Okay, Sensei,” she said, taking the word from an anime she had watched. ”What do I do?”

Sterling let Gen lead. She was only 4, but she liked the Kata's -- most of the time. "Follow us. We'll go slow." She said it mostly for Gen's instruction, she had a tendancy to move too fast through the movements. "Remember, the point of the Kata is to focus on form. In the slow movements we build strength and repetition, so when we need to use the movements our bodies know exactly what to do."

The Kata's were a lot like dancing at least the way Nox taught them, which is what his mother taught him. Though she also taught him ballet, tap, jazz and so many any other dance moves. The difference between the dancing practice and the kata's was simple. The Kata's were not hiding the movements of the fight. You could tell exactly what punch you were throwing or what defense move you made, but with the dancing it was more fluid, more extra movements to connect each part. Sterling had watched Nox turn one of the dances into a fight, they were both beautiful, and both kinda scary.

"Follow Gen. I'll help you with form. Form is important." She helped Marta adjust her stance and her arms as they followed Gen through the first Kata. It was slow, and steady and it was hard work.

Marta turned her attention to Gen. the girl couldn’t be more than four or five, but seemed excited to be a part of what they were doing. Marta smiled and showed enthusiasm for her instruction. That was easy enough because she wanted to do this, but she turned it up a little to encourage the young girl.

Marta watched, and tried the first form, the moves just a little awkward with unfamiliarity. Sterling helped with this, correcting her form. Marta picked it up quickly.

Windsong - the name given to her by Stinging Nose when she had met Elyse and Sierra. The name had come about because she had started humming and dancing that night. Of course, her name was actually something super complicated like “The Wind Blows Through the Autumn Leaves Whispering Its Song” but that was a mouthful. But the name conveyed her love of song and dance. The kata, Marta realized, was just that - a dance. It was a dance that could hurt someone if applied correctly, but a dance nonetheless.

The third time through the kata, Marta tried it on her own. She kept the movement slow and focused on her form. ”Like this?” she asked. She felt she was doing the move correctly but just wanted to make sure. She was feeling muscles move that she hadn’t really consciously used before, leading her to believe it was harder than it looked.

"You are doing great!" Sterling praised Marta.

Gen giggled. "Can we show her?"

Sterling nodded. "Sure. You wanna do it?" Gen nodded and took up a position four feet in front of Marta. "So each Kata Nox choreographed plays on another. Kata 2 is an attack against Kata 1, Kata 3 is an attack against 2 and Kata 1 is an attack against Kata 3. But they don't all start at the same point. You do Kata 1. And Gen is going to do Kata 2. As long as you stay in your space, and Gen stays in hers there is no contact, but it's cool to see it. I'll video it so you can watch and show Elyse."

Sterling took a step back so she could get both girls in the frame and then nodded. "You start first Marta, don't worry about what Gen is doing, she'll jump in when she's supposed to."

Marta beamed at the praise and even more so at Gen, whose excitement was palpable. The enthusiasm was infectious. Marta looked to see if Splash had caught the excitement, but she had laid down to nap.

Marta was ready and followed the instructions to the letter. When it was clear Gen was ready, Marta started and Gen did her form. Marta saw it - saw how it all fit together. Gen would be able to block and attack her move easily if they sped it up and were actually fighting.

Marta requested it again, but this time, watched the move for Kata 2. She did the same a third time, before pausing. ”Kata 2 is this right?” she did the move, but knew it was flawed. Seeing it from the front wasn’t the same as from the side.

Marta liked this place and was glad that Ricky was agreeing to this new school plan. Building needed a name though. She would call it the Fortess of Nox-itude

Sterling smiled and Gen practiced Kata 2 with her. "That's good. When you have permission and Nox is back he'll actually let you hit him with these moves. That's where the power comes in. Power as in how you hit not the magic. Magic is not allowed in sparring." Sterling giggled. "Unless it's channeling sparring which he's teaching me when no one else is around so I don't hurt anyone. it's harder cause I can't see what he does. But he says it's important."

Sterling could ramble all day. Mae came and checked on them and made her report to Elyse, there might have been some mention of the versus kata, but there was no contact, just demonstration, and it wasn't against the rules -- not technically Not even Nox's rules.

Marta smiled and kept working, getting the kata right and and feeling the practiced motions settle into her bones. "Okay - so when I do Kata 2, you do Kata 3 right?"

Marta did kata 2 and Gen responded in like kind. Again, Marta saw how they fit together. She watched Gen do Kata 3, and similarly began to practice it. The something clicked in her head - how this would actually work if she could do all three.

"So how it works is this: I would do Kata 1 which caused Gen to do 2. That cause me to do 3, which makes her do 1. It becomes a loop of motions, right?" Marta smiled and looked around. "I really like the Fortress of Nox-itude. I'm glad I'm going to keep coming. And don't worry - Ricky will approve of self-defense. He already teaches me guns."

Sterling laughed. "No guns here. Only defense. Nox grew up not being a kid, so he makes sure we all get that. And I like that. I'm sure Nox would like to think of himself as superman. And I'm glad you want to come back. Let's go upstairs and have a snack"

Marta followed Sterling upstairs and enjoyed a snack with her. Something she had said had sparked something in her. Sterling had said Nox wanted them to be kids, and today was the first time since Mexico that she had felt like one again. The two talked a little more, nothing important, but Marta was just glad for the talk.

Her wallet beeped and she saw that Ricky was here to pick her up. Marta gave Sterling a hug, thanked her for the fun day, and exchanged numbers. She then left the Fortress of Nox-itude and got into Ricky's car to head home for the night. She turned to look, watching the building until she couldn't see it anymore. For once, she felt normal - she felt she belonged somewhere.