Sword in the Dark [Lukas/Cala]

Ever since the tides of war had begun to rise again Cala had stirred from a deep, unsettling melancholy. A Loss of purpose, Loss of direction, had gripped the small Arrancar and lead them into a morose slumber for a long time. Devouring the average Gillian no longer satiated them, battle instead thrilled and gorged them among other things, exploration even, and while one might wryly comment on Cala's loss of direction as their aspect of death devouring itself they had, nonetheless, shaken themselves from the long-standing stupor to explore the realms once more. In their malaise they had seen much of Hueco Mundo, at least as 'much' as one could call the nigh-endless dunes of sand and near-emptiness of the place.

Now Cala sought to explore more of The Living Realm and, having rather unrefined control of their ability to move between realms, found themselves in the City of Light before too long of wandering. Their Sealed Form hiding their true nature behind the façade of a High-Spec human, albeit one far weaker than one might expect a High-Spec human to be. It was not long wandering the City of Light that Cala found several flyers for a training class posted and, that insistent urge under their skin driving them forward, squirmed as that familiar war between the timidity of the Sealed Form and True Self began once again. A cold, coiling anxiousness twisting in their gut as their grip upon the flyer tightened just a tiny bit. Perhaps if the individual offering this class was particularly weak Cala could feed on them?

Even before they had finished the thought Cala began walking briskly through the streets toward the indicated address and, pausing before the door, their face warred with itself into an expression somewhere between an anxious grimace and a scowl as they sensed the more powerful being inside. With his hunger and desire to feed receding, his timidity resurfacing in full, Cala decided to politely knock and actually take up the proffered lessons anyways. Fencing was not at all something they were familiar with and, at the very least, practicing against a foreign fighting style might be useful in future battles. As long, at least, as this 'Lukas' individual was as skilled as the flyer claimed he was.

Giving a brief moment after their knock Cala would gingerly grip the handle of the door and pull it open a tiny bit, their mop of styled black hair, skull hair-pin and lavender eyes peeping into the room in a textbook example of shyness as they looked around. Asking in a quiet, uncertain voice as they did so.

"Ummm, hello? Is this where the lessons on the flyer are being held?"

A slow, gentle poking of the flyer through the door's opening would follow this hesitant question.

Cala almost jumped as the voice that responded nearly barked at them and when the door flew open Cala held the flyer up almost as if it were a shield. Though with a flash of silver hair Cala blinked as the figure turned away and go right to business of picking up one of the old weapons. Cala's form, for now, gave off the energy of a high-spec human, masking their Hollow traits within them, and as Lukas tested the foil's weight Cala simply watched them move. The precision to Lukas' movements were rather advanced and Cala could appreciate the skill on display, enough so that the thought of fighting Lukas almost vanished from their mind, and training seemed a very good idea.

As the Quincy turned on their heel and pointed the foil's tip at Cala they blinked, blushed just a little, and shrugged a gentle shrug. Their eyes staying on Lukas' chest as they shuffled their feet.

"Umm... I know the basics I-I think? It's not my first time using a weapon but I don't think I have ever used weapons like this. I-I'm not sure how much transfer over from one art to the other."

Taking a moment to actually think about it Cala took a step forward and looked at the old equipment, pursing their lips in thought, before looking up at the Quincy before them.

"I-I also know a bit about the theory of fencing. Very precise movement, nimble footwork, umm... a focus on angles and u-usually controlling the center of the duel around your opponent's chest."

Cala said, nodding at Lukas' chest as they looked down, now holding the flyer in both their hands in front of them down by their thighs. Waiting to see what Lukas said in response to their initial information.

Cala was still looking at the spot Lukas had been standing when they vanished, but they did at least feel Lukas appear to shut the door behind them. Cala would turn slowly, listening to Lukas' response and nodding along gently, only to gasp and fumble with the tossed foil before catching it in hand. Nearly dropping it before they turned to follow Lukas' movements towards the rest of the gear, their eyes widening as Lukas picked it up and made to throw it to them. Cala only had time to let out a small squeak of objection before they barely caught the vest in time, but the mask? The mask knocked into the vest and in their scramble to secure everything Cala kept nothing.

The foil, the vest and helmet would all clatter to the ground and Cala would turn cherry red out of embarrassment. Sheepishly kneeling to scoop up the gear again with a soft mumble of.

"S-Sorry....."

Hurriedly putting on the protective gear Cala would test the weight of the foil in their hand before noting and doing their best to copy Lukas' stance. Their foil held in their right hand, blade angled slightly upward, with the point trained roughly on Lukas' face as Cala gave a quick, if unsure, nod.

"O-Okay. Ready!"

Cala would make note of whether Lukas seemed to be moving into a position to show off motions or if they were moving straight to live exercises and sparring. If it was just a case of showing the motions and stances, Cala would replicate them to the best of their ability, but if it was actual sparring then they would immediately prepared for Lukas to take the initiative.

Cala nodded attentively as Lukas began explaining the basics of footwork to them. Cala would hum quietly enough to be all but to themselves as they watched the motions Lukas made with their feet and nodded, hesitantly, but they nodded. Being near focused enough to all but bite their tongue between their lips Cala would slowly mimic the initial motions, having a good grasp on them at this speed, before withdrawing back to their starting position and earnestly mimicing Lukas' motion. With their right leg slipping forward their weight would shift back, knee taught and muscles ready, Cala would spring forward appreciably slower than Lukas.

Even as Cala made the step they were aware of a rather large mistake, and behind their masked visage they all but pouted and look down at their feet, slowly wiggling their legs as if they were foreign objects before glancing back at the crossed distance. During their initial movement Cala had placed too much weight on their toes, not keeping the weight evenly distributed, and turned back to Lukas sheepishly as they bowed their head a tiny bit.

"A-Ah.... I think I messed it up a-a little.... Umm...."

Looking back down at their feet and slowly mimicking the initial stepping motion again Cala would nod before looking back up at Lukas and asking.

"How... How do you handle your weight wanting to shift forward to your toes too heavily Sir? I-I think maybe I am too.... ahh... t-too umm... nervous and eager to get the motion done with. I'm not.... r-really sure how to reign myself back physically."

That was, unbeknownst to Lukas, true in several senses including the present circumstance. Cala, via their ascension into an Arrancar, had never actually fought as a half-measure or exerted themselves, purposefully, below what felt most correct and efficient in the heat of combat.

As Lukas blinked at them Cala felt quite a bit of self consciousness, only to be distracted from this in short order as Lukas indicated their knees. Cala would glance down, albeit briefly, before curiously tilting their head as Lukas cracked their neck and described some sort of chair. Ironically enough Cala did not explicitly know what a rocking chair was, they had seen them, but had never had a conversation centering around identifying them. The enigma of the rocking chair would have to live on, however, as Lukas used yet another comparison Cala was even more confused by. Shock... absorbers? Cala simply blinked back at Lukas, about to ask exactly how something that would absorb electricity would help them here, but snapped their mouth shut as Lukas simply commanded them to try again.

Their question of clarification being turned instead into a nod of acquiescence Cala returned to their ready stance and, still somewhat perplexed by the comparisons Lukas had made, was not anymore successful the second time around than the first. This time Cala did not stop, however, and repeated the action. Their third attempt resulted in them mentally overcompensating and losing their balance for a moment, but finally, upon their fourth attempt they performed the maneuver in a manner that was somewhat passable. With the action more or less successful Cala began to hone in on the minutia of the movement and, little by little, would be more or less mimicking Lukas by their dozenth attempt.

With that done Cala paused in front of Lukas, obviously pleased at having succeeded in this first maneuver, with the enigma of the rocking chair and the shock absorber forgotten Cala would ask.

"Umm... Sensei? If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn how to use a sword?"

It was an innocent enough question and, genuinely, one Cala was curious about.