18th of Cylus, Arc 718
Sephira had arrived at the Water Troop command post early that morning with a feeling of dread growing in her gut. This was her last trial working with the water troops and it seemed that she was actually supposed to spend some time in the water today. With the cold of Cylus having set in she was worried about how this was going to be accomplished without turning her into an icicle. The command post was probably the most beautiful of those that she had seen so far. With its domed blue tiled roof and shell lined alcoves it was as though the architect that taken every opportunity to infuse the building with reminders of the ocean. Somehow they managed to keep the flooded courtyard and canals running through the buildings from freezing.
Today she would be learning a little about water combat, as the Water Troops were charged with defending the waters of Scalvoris from all threats. This was far easier for a Mer as swimming came so naturally, so other races were often training to keep up with their scaled counterparts. A wide stone bridge led to the training building just off the side of the main structure. The building was arrayed in two levels, the top was designed for normal combat training and the first floor contained a waist high sunken area water filled area and a deep pool in the middle for realistic water training.
Once she reached the second building Sephira made her way to the bottom floor where a set of stairs led to a chamber that contained lockers and dressing rooms. Racks of dark blue linen long sleeved shirts and pants lines the wall to be used in practice. The fabric was light and didn’t weight the swimmer down in the water. After locating a set of clothes in her size the mage changed out of her crimson attire and into the very basic clothes. Ivory colored canvas fabric belts were also hanging from racks that could be secured in place with an extra shoulder strap. The belts could hold and array of useful tools to be used in water rescue or to free ships stuck in netting. There was a water proof oil cloth pouch on the shoulder strap that contained a set of metal shears for cutting through nets and fishing lines and a pen knife for more generalized cutting. The belt around the waist sported a sturdy rope tether that could be attached to one of the various hollow wooden flotation devices used for stabilizing rescued swimmers. With a spare leather cord the mage pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face while she swam.
Outfitted correctly the woman headed down to the training pool, her bare feet slapping against the rough cross hatched stone stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she came to a stone platform that sat a few feet above the flooded training area. A ring of glowing stones were embedded in the shallow sections of the pool providing illumination. To the sides were pairs of Water Troops grappling with each other and fighting with blunt wooden spears. At the center in the deep pool floated a young Biqaj man in a black version of her clothes. His hair was shaven on the sides so a long shoulder length mane of dark brown hair flowed down his neck. Tattoos in attractive wave like patterns marked his scalp and his upper arms. “You’re late Blackwood!” He shouted from the water with a grisly sharp voice. Sephira faltered at the edge of the platform. Suddenly she realized how long it had been since she had actually been in the water. Sure she had grown up on Faldrass and swimming had been a part of daily life but she had not swum in arcs. Not to mention she had never been in water deeper than she was tall.
“Get in!” He bellowed.
Less graceful that she would have wanted Sephira clumsily slid off the platform and into the water. Strangely the water was not frigid like she had expected. It was no pleasant bath, but it was not chilling her to her core. The mage guessed that the luminescent stones along the edge of the water had something to do with the temperature. Slogging forward through the waist deep water she stepped off into the deep portion of the pool where her trainer was lazily treading water.
“Name’s Khan.” The Biqaj said quickly as Sephira slowly swam over to him, struggling to keep her head up above water. As soon as she reached him her trainer suddenly lunged out and grabbed the woman with one sturdy arm to flip her backwards into the depths. Sephira flailed, water stinging as it flooded through her nose in a panic as she sunk down several feet. Her eyes stung as well from the salty water, so she kept them clamped shut; effectively blinding her while she struggled for her bearings.
This was not going as planned.
She had at least half a breath of air in her lungs, so she had a dozen or so seconds to get to the surface. It felt strangely similar to when Elias had initiated her into Rupturing; the disorientation was very much the same. She couldn’t figure out what was up or down for the first few trills. Even her spark seemed to feed off her panic for a moment. Sephira could feel the wavering of space around her like a blink portal was about to open. Before anything happened she felt her body begin to float, orienting her back toward the surface. A wave of calm swept through her as she realized which was way up, and the mage kicked forcefully up toward the surface. Her lungs were beginning to burn when she emerged above the water, sucking in great gulps of air while she recovered.
A cackling laugh echoed over the water toward her. “At least you didn’t totally botch it.” Khan said with a crooked grin. Sephira laid on her back, attempting to float so she could rest her already strained muscles. “What was the point of that?” She spat weakly.
“When you came in here you looked like a half scared cat, so I went ahead and put you through the worst that could happen. Now you don’t need to worry, cause you know what it feels like to get shoved under and lose your orientation. You panicked…but you recovered. So now we can really get started.” The Biqaj somehow kept up his brutal pace of treading water, Sephira could barely stand to float now that she was completely waterlogged.
“Thanks for that….” She muttered grumpily before going upright from floating and began kicking to keep herself afloat in the pool. Her nose still burned from the salt water and her throat was stinging as well, but she had only just begun.
Khan ignored her comment and watched her form. “You’re flailing around instead of treading water, relax and use the least amount of energy to keep yourself above the surface. You can’t burn all your energy just staying afloat, so you have to conserve it.” He explained with a grim expression.
The mage’s own face soured as he chided her on her swimming skills, however she did begin to adjust her movements to slower steadier kicks and sweeping motions with her hands like he was doing. It was a relief to feel like she could maintain this for a fair amount of time but Sephira could clearly tell that tomorrow she would have sore muscles in places that she didn’t even know she had.
“Time so see what water combat can be like Ms. Blackwood. I’m going to try preforming another simple grapple on you like before. You are to try and get free before I am able to disorient you in the water.”
Khan swam forward, approaching her. “Make yourself small when I grab you, try to use your elbows to give yourself room to slide out of my grip. Turn around please.”
Begrudgingly the woman slowly managed to turn herself around with her back facing her trainer with her arms bent at the elbows so she’s have some resistance to the grapple. Only a half a trill passed before his forearm was wrapped around her midsection and his other was wrapped around her neck. Sephira was half picked up out of the water as he prepared to dunk her again. Wiggling her elbows she pushed against the oppressive grip, twisting her torso wildly to loosen his hold. It was hard work fighting against someone physically stronger than her.
Khan slammed her face down into the water, trying to disorient her like before, but he kept her pinned to his chest. Water rushed into her eyes and nose, but this time she was better prepared and had taken a great breath of air. Sephira kept thrashing against the larger opponent as the trills ticked by and her air supply grew thin. Finally she felt him start to lose his grip on her as she brought in her elbows to make herself smaller than normal. Suddenly he released her and allowed the mage to bob to the surface where she exploded from the water to take in deep gasps of air. The woman laid flat on her back, letting the exhaustion wash over her from the exercise. Khan was treading water again with a stupid grin on his face. “You didn’t get free, but it was…an improvement.” He conceded.
“This is exhausting…” Sephira exclaimed with a sigh.
“Aye, but it’s part of what we do. Gotta be able to handle yourself out there otherwise we can’t trust you to be of use. We can’t do our jobs right if we are always having t to worry if one of our own is gonna drown themselves in a panic. “ The Biqaj explained grimly. “I’ve seen lads stronger than you drown because they weren’t ready. Working in the water is a mental game more than a physical one.”
They went through the same exercise two more times until finally Sephira managed to slither out of his grip with some difficulty. Perhaps Khan was beginning to tire out from the constant treading of water, but at least she had finally accomplished the feat.
Sephira had a new found respect for the Water Troops and their work. It took many different kinds of strength to work in this environment, both of the mind and of the body. You could psych yourself out and endanger yourself and the people around you if you weren’t fully prepared.
“You should come by again Blackwood, I know you’re making the Flame Troops your home but you’ve got the right mindset for working in the water. I wouldn’t mind teaching you more.” Khan wiped the spray of water from his face with one massive hand as Sephira stared at the ceiling from her floating position. She wasn’t opposed to it at all, but she knew this had been the most exhausting physical training she had done with any of the Elements. Training with Khan would be brutal if she continued, but it wasn’t a bad idea.
“I may take you up on that.” She responded wearily.
Today she would be learning a little about water combat, as the Water Troops were charged with defending the waters of Scalvoris from all threats. This was far easier for a Mer as swimming came so naturally, so other races were often training to keep up with their scaled counterparts. A wide stone bridge led to the training building just off the side of the main structure. The building was arrayed in two levels, the top was designed for normal combat training and the first floor contained a waist high sunken area water filled area and a deep pool in the middle for realistic water training.
Once she reached the second building Sephira made her way to the bottom floor where a set of stairs led to a chamber that contained lockers and dressing rooms. Racks of dark blue linen long sleeved shirts and pants lines the wall to be used in practice. The fabric was light and didn’t weight the swimmer down in the water. After locating a set of clothes in her size the mage changed out of her crimson attire and into the very basic clothes. Ivory colored canvas fabric belts were also hanging from racks that could be secured in place with an extra shoulder strap. The belts could hold and array of useful tools to be used in water rescue or to free ships stuck in netting. There was a water proof oil cloth pouch on the shoulder strap that contained a set of metal shears for cutting through nets and fishing lines and a pen knife for more generalized cutting. The belt around the waist sported a sturdy rope tether that could be attached to one of the various hollow wooden flotation devices used for stabilizing rescued swimmers. With a spare leather cord the mage pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face while she swam.
Outfitted correctly the woman headed down to the training pool, her bare feet slapping against the rough cross hatched stone stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she came to a stone platform that sat a few feet above the flooded training area. A ring of glowing stones were embedded in the shallow sections of the pool providing illumination. To the sides were pairs of Water Troops grappling with each other and fighting with blunt wooden spears. At the center in the deep pool floated a young Biqaj man in a black version of her clothes. His hair was shaven on the sides so a long shoulder length mane of dark brown hair flowed down his neck. Tattoos in attractive wave like patterns marked his scalp and his upper arms. “You’re late Blackwood!” He shouted from the water with a grisly sharp voice. Sephira faltered at the edge of the platform. Suddenly she realized how long it had been since she had actually been in the water. Sure she had grown up on Faldrass and swimming had been a part of daily life but she had not swum in arcs. Not to mention she had never been in water deeper than she was tall.
“Get in!” He bellowed.
Less graceful that she would have wanted Sephira clumsily slid off the platform and into the water. Strangely the water was not frigid like she had expected. It was no pleasant bath, but it was not chilling her to her core. The mage guessed that the luminescent stones along the edge of the water had something to do with the temperature. Slogging forward through the waist deep water she stepped off into the deep portion of the pool where her trainer was lazily treading water.
“Name’s Khan.” The Biqaj said quickly as Sephira slowly swam over to him, struggling to keep her head up above water. As soon as she reached him her trainer suddenly lunged out and grabbed the woman with one sturdy arm to flip her backwards into the depths. Sephira flailed, water stinging as it flooded through her nose in a panic as she sunk down several feet. Her eyes stung as well from the salty water, so she kept them clamped shut; effectively blinding her while she struggled for her bearings.
This was not going as planned.
She had at least half a breath of air in her lungs, so she had a dozen or so seconds to get to the surface. It felt strangely similar to when Elias had initiated her into Rupturing; the disorientation was very much the same. She couldn’t figure out what was up or down for the first few trills. Even her spark seemed to feed off her panic for a moment. Sephira could feel the wavering of space around her like a blink portal was about to open. Before anything happened she felt her body begin to float, orienting her back toward the surface. A wave of calm swept through her as she realized which was way up, and the mage kicked forcefully up toward the surface. Her lungs were beginning to burn when she emerged above the water, sucking in great gulps of air while she recovered.
A cackling laugh echoed over the water toward her. “At least you didn’t totally botch it.” Khan said with a crooked grin. Sephira laid on her back, attempting to float so she could rest her already strained muscles. “What was the point of that?” She spat weakly.
“When you came in here you looked like a half scared cat, so I went ahead and put you through the worst that could happen. Now you don’t need to worry, cause you know what it feels like to get shoved under and lose your orientation. You panicked…but you recovered. So now we can really get started.” The Biqaj somehow kept up his brutal pace of treading water, Sephira could barely stand to float now that she was completely waterlogged.
“Thanks for that….” She muttered grumpily before going upright from floating and began kicking to keep herself afloat in the pool. Her nose still burned from the salt water and her throat was stinging as well, but she had only just begun.
Khan ignored her comment and watched her form. “You’re flailing around instead of treading water, relax and use the least amount of energy to keep yourself above the surface. You can’t burn all your energy just staying afloat, so you have to conserve it.” He explained with a grim expression.
The mage’s own face soured as he chided her on her swimming skills, however she did begin to adjust her movements to slower steadier kicks and sweeping motions with her hands like he was doing. It was a relief to feel like she could maintain this for a fair amount of time but Sephira could clearly tell that tomorrow she would have sore muscles in places that she didn’t even know she had.
“Time so see what water combat can be like Ms. Blackwood. I’m going to try preforming another simple grapple on you like before. You are to try and get free before I am able to disorient you in the water.”
Khan swam forward, approaching her. “Make yourself small when I grab you, try to use your elbows to give yourself room to slide out of my grip. Turn around please.”
Begrudgingly the woman slowly managed to turn herself around with her back facing her trainer with her arms bent at the elbows so she’s have some resistance to the grapple. Only a half a trill passed before his forearm was wrapped around her midsection and his other was wrapped around her neck. Sephira was half picked up out of the water as he prepared to dunk her again. Wiggling her elbows she pushed against the oppressive grip, twisting her torso wildly to loosen his hold. It was hard work fighting against someone physically stronger than her.
Khan slammed her face down into the water, trying to disorient her like before, but he kept her pinned to his chest. Water rushed into her eyes and nose, but this time she was better prepared and had taken a great breath of air. Sephira kept thrashing against the larger opponent as the trills ticked by and her air supply grew thin. Finally she felt him start to lose his grip on her as she brought in her elbows to make herself smaller than normal. Suddenly he released her and allowed the mage to bob to the surface where she exploded from the water to take in deep gasps of air. The woman laid flat on her back, letting the exhaustion wash over her from the exercise. Khan was treading water again with a stupid grin on his face. “You didn’t get free, but it was…an improvement.” He conceded.
“This is exhausting…” Sephira exclaimed with a sigh.
“Aye, but it’s part of what we do. Gotta be able to handle yourself out there otherwise we can’t trust you to be of use. We can’t do our jobs right if we are always having t to worry if one of our own is gonna drown themselves in a panic. “ The Biqaj explained grimly. “I’ve seen lads stronger than you drown because they weren’t ready. Working in the water is a mental game more than a physical one.”
They went through the same exercise two more times until finally Sephira managed to slither out of his grip with some difficulty. Perhaps Khan was beginning to tire out from the constant treading of water, but at least she had finally accomplished the feat.
Sephira had a new found respect for the Water Troops and their work. It took many different kinds of strength to work in this environment, both of the mind and of the body. You could psych yourself out and endanger yourself and the people around you if you weren’t fully prepared.
“You should come by again Blackwood, I know you’re making the Flame Troops your home but you’ve got the right mindset for working in the water. I wouldn’t mind teaching you more.” Khan wiped the spray of water from his face with one massive hand as Sephira stared at the ceiling from her floating position. She wasn’t opposed to it at all, but she knew this had been the most exhausting physical training she had done with any of the Elements. Training with Khan would be brutal if she continued, but it wasn’t a bad idea.
“I may take you up on that.” She responded wearily.
