Chapter 7: Baby Puppy
Jardin trained Jemman hard the next morning. He pushed her as she did laps of the compound. Martial movement, as she called the exercises, became more physical as the month passed by. Jardin began incorporating holds and throws into the mix. He'd covered landing and rolls earlier and now his fights with Jemman began to become more free form. He was a big wolof and it took all her energy to move him. "So what if you're tiny Only Eight. If you truly understand momentum and pivot points you will be able to throw me. Besides, you are more than a body."
Jemman understood that this was the real lesson of the day. "I am more than a body." If anyone gets that people are more than their body it should be me. "Jarsh! I have no idea how to use anything except my body to throw an overgrown wolf like you."
Jarsh was a swear word that she guessed was anatomically based. Baby Puppy had used it once and gotten beaten for using it in front of a little girl. Because it wasn't a swear word with which she was familiar she didn't feel guilty when using it.
Eventually she decided that instead of trying to release qi, ie be more than her body, she would just let it happen. 'It' being, The Force, released from her body. She'd always loved Star Wars and decided that she'd just call qi, The Force, until she knew better. Her force didn't result in much change although later in the day she felt like Jardin moved a tiny bit on one of her so-called throws. She was about to say something about this being a useless waste of time but realised that she wasn't up to sarcastic 'Only Eights' for the next five hours. So she focused on her form, and pivot points and tried to gain some momentum. Nothing happened. Jardin would have been delighted to know that Jemman was viewing it as a boundary she would soon crush.
A crush did happen later in the day, unfortunately, it wasn't from her. As Baby Puppy's fighting continued to improve she regularly got crushed. Their fights were with wooden blades and she wore a leather jerkin. By the end of the day her arms had long bruises. As she undressed for her medicinal bath that evening she noticed, once again, that her torso was covered with bruises. As she fell into her bed they'd faded to a light yellowy-brown. Her last thought for the evening was, "I will call him Baby Puppy tomorrow."
They say tomorrow never comes and in this case it was absolutely true. For another two weeks tomorrow didn't come. Despite this there was daily progress. Jemman made Jardin trip over her leg two days later. The day after that she clipped Baby Puppy under the chin making him bleed profusely. She got beaten worse than she'd ever been before, but she was still happy. A week later it took Kraem twenty minutes before it was clear he'd won their daily fight.
Over time, Jemman's body found a sense of rhythm. One day as Jardin faced off with her, she decided not to think about his size. It wasn't a case of "The bigger they are the harder they fall" but a true, "C'mon wolfman let's have a wrestle." She locked onto his forearms, snuck her hip in close and then levered him. At that moment, she knew that she'd released qi energy. Her body was warm and she felt energised. Without really thinking she moved to where Jardin was rolling out of the throw and she she gave him a firm shove. Then she provided his backward momentum with a rolling hillock. Feeling pretty awesome about herself Jemman moved towards him again. Just as she was about to catch him again he swayed slightly. She completely missed the next grab. Instead, she felt a huge hairy hand encircle her wrist. Expecting to be thrown again she was surprised to feel him grab her other wrist. "You're almost there. That was great. Make sure you beat Baby Puppy today. He's becoming insufferably arrogant." She started to smile. Then felt herself get slammed into the ground. "Doesn't mean you can turn your brain off."
With renewed confidence she came to fight Kraem.
Kraem and Jemman were engaging in free fighting that involved a colmar. Jardin acted as judge. The bout started pretty casually with both Jemman and the young wolof lunging, slashing and parrying. The speed quickly picked up until Kraem quickly stuck her blade twice, forcing the colmar out of her hand. As he lunged towards her she strongly slapped his blade to her right. It gently ran outside her forearm. Stepping closer she grabbed his wrist. The moves followed the progression of the morning. Feeling a little aggressive he tried to get up and stop her but she palmed him hard under his chin. Jemman was pretty sure she'd seen the move in a movie once. His head snapped back and he landed hard on his tail.
She started to laugh when he gave a bit of a yip. "You didn't hurt yourself Baby Puppy?" she asked sounding as sincere as possible.
He jumped up and ran at her arms flailing. Seeing he'd lost his cool Jemman started the manoeuvres again. This time she ended up holding him in a neck hold from behind.
He was clearly furious.
"You stupid, little..."
Before he could finish his sentence Jardin stepped in. "She is little, and yet she's beaten you twice. Today, she has been more disciplined in her holds, throws and strikes. Your blade work is stronger but then, you've been learning for a year longer. Step down."
For the next twenty minutes Jardin discussed the fight with them. Besides a technical assessment he had a main theme for Jemman. "Learn to turn your opponent's uncontrolled strength into something you can use." Because Kraem had lost control of his strength, and his emotions, she'd been able to redirect the energy flow. "You used his energy for your purposes. That is skilful fighting."
Of course, her best news came as she was about to go and cook tea. "Tomorrow you learn to cultivate."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone