FanStory.com - Tyler's Bootcamp Pt 1by Erika Whittle

While Jer and Taya followed Demi to the other side of the woods, Derek, Dave, and Brandi, along with members of the other group, followed Tyler to a clearing. “Since you’re hunters I’m sure you’re familiar with killing. However, killing people in their right mind is different. They have rational judgment and are capable of evoking sympathy from you. Don’t let them. The others have already practiced with me and are familiar with my methods. Therefore, we’ll start with a test for the newbies.” Derek and Brandy frowned. Dave’s expression remained the same, as if he didn’t care either way. Two women, a blonde and a brunette, and a boy in his early teens, stepped forward. The women stood in front of Derek and Dave and the kid in front of Brandy. Now all three of them were frowning.

“What is this?” Derek asked.

“Your test”, Tyler replied.

“There are no women or children in the royal guard.”

“Maybe not, but there’s no guarantee the only attack will come from guards. Shadow knights come in both genders and various ages. Only skill matters. We have a former shadow among us so we know this as fact. You need to cut down any enemy, not just the ones you feel good about. Begin.”

The women lunged at the men and the kid at Brandy. The three quickly raised their weapons to parry the attack. Dave reacted the fastest; his sword deflecting the blonde’s attack as if scorning her. She frowned and jumped away from him, creating some distance. Dave simply followed her movement with his eyes. A look of determination graced the woman’s face. She ran full speed, in a J-shape, and jumped high in the air. With her sword raised, she used the momentum to come bearing down on Dave with full force. Dave smiled. Treating his blade like the shaft of a spear, he raised the palm of his left hand flat, supporting the other end of his sword. The woman put her whole body into the attack, but Dave was like a tree rooted to the ground; unshakeable. She fell to the ground and summersaulted away from him. Instead of attacking again she remained in a crouched position, ready to react. Dave slowly walked towards her. The woman’s face paled and eyes trembled. Dave raised his leg and stomped down on the woman’s sword. Both of them paused before the woman admitted defeat. Dave politely backed off.

Derek wasn’t having any fun. Although he rarely walked the moral high road, fighting women was a different matter. Instead of attacking he chose to defend. He looked beside him and saw Dave subdue his opponent. This time when the woman lunged towards him, he followed suit. At the last moment, he dodged her sword and used his legs to trip her. He immediately attempted to disarm her, but the stubborn women held on to her weapon like a lifeline. Eventually he succeeded in shaking her off, but they were both panting by the time he did. The brunette also conceded defeat.

Brandy, though initially surprised, had actually been in similar situations. Being a pirate is sometimes a family business and she had encountered more than one overzealous teen. Since she regularly dealt with these less than lawful folk, this situation was nothing special. She decided to treat it as a teaching moment. The excited boy repeatedly attacked while Brandy leisurely defended. She would praise him when his attacks were solid and spout unsolicited advice when they were weak. Eventually, the child grew frustrated and stopped.

“Why’d you stop? You haven’t won yet.” Brandy teased.

“The test wasn’t for me; it was for you.” The boy sulkily answered back.

“Okay, enough. Surprisingly the woman-”

“Brandy.”

“..Brandy,” Tyler corrected, “did the best in this test. However, she did waste time playing with her opponent. You boys refused to seriously engage with women.”

“Are you kidding me; she was giving the kid pointers and we’re the ones who didn’t take the fight seriously?” Derek yelled, his patience long gone.

“Yes, but she was seriously assessing his skills the whole time. You two were busy trying to disarm the women instead of fighting them. Dave a little less then Derek.”

Derek scowled and Dave shrugged. Dave approached Tyler and pretended to write in the air. Seeing this, Derek pulled out a notepad and pencil. “I don’t know if anyone told you but Dave can’t speak. He rarely bothers to write his thoughts down but I guess there’s something he wants to say to you." Derek handed Dave the note pad. Dave wrote down what he wanted to say and handed the ripped sheet of paper over to Tyler.

I am half barbarian, and northern women are fierce. Southern women would die right away if I fought seriously. Do you fight to the death here? It’s a common practice in the northern plains but I’ve never seen people train that way here. Should I have killed the girl?

Tyler’s face paled as he read the note. Derek couldn’t stand the suspense and read over his shoulder. “Ha,” Derek’s sigh like laugh contained mixed emotions. “I don’t think he meant it that way, Dave. He thought you were going easy on her because you were uncomfortable fighting a woman. I’ll admit, that was the case for me. Fighting women is one of the few lines I don’t cross.” Dave looked at Derek with sympathetic eyes and nodded his head in understanding. Then he began to write more.

I don’t really like killing if it’s not necessary, however, in the northern outlands, gender and age don’t matter. You fight with your life on the line either way. I won’t have problems killing a real enemy, but for these types of drills, rules will have to be specified.

“I see...please don’t kill my comrades. Subdue them as fast as possible without inflicting serious damage.” Tyler solemnly explained to Dave. “As for you, Derek, you will continue to practice with women until you can treat them the same as any other enemy. It might make you uncomfortable, but I have just the person to pair you with.”

Just as Tyler was about to summon a new sparring partner for Derek, the ground shook. There was a brief moment of panic, as everyone thought it was an earthquake. Tyler looked in the direction Demi, Taya and Jer had gone, and hastily sprinted into the forest.

“I guess his brother is having some issues. We’ll take a fifteen minute break. If Tyler hasn’t returned by then, I’ll take over.” Trent announced.