Accountantships

"Every little thing about you can be a weapon, if you're clever enough." - Courtney Summers

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He stared across the big room bright with the light of noon pouring through the skylights, saw the boy seated with back to the door, intent on papers and charts spread across a table.

'How many times must I tell that lad never to settle himself with his back to a door?' Han cleared his throat.

The boy remained bent over his studies.

A cloud shadow passed over the skylights. Again, Han cleared his throat.

Hanma straightened, spoke without turning: "I know. I'm sitting with my back to a door."

He suppressed a smile, strode across the room.

Hanma looked up at the grizzled, middle aged man who stopped at a corner of the table. Han's eyes were two pools of alertness in a dark and deeply seamed face.

"I heard you coming down the hall," Hanma said. "And I heard you open the door."

"What if I was an assassin?"

He brings his hidden hand from underneath the table he studies at. A sheathed knife in it. "Then you would have perished."

"You along with me." Han replied as he clasped his hands from behind his back and pulled his own knife. "Wheter or not I die means nothing, I have succeeded my mission."

"Are you sure you could kill me? I was trained by the 'Great General Han' after all." Hanma says with a sly smirk on his face.

The general held back his amusement. "Depends on whether or jot you're good enough to receive and practice his lessons."

A moment of silence endured as tension settled in the room.

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Han leaped high to one side, then forward, pressing a furious attack.

Hanma fell back, parrying. He felt the strength of the attacks from his parrying, 'What's gotten into Father?' he asked himself. 'He's not faking this!' He moved his left hand, dropped his knife into his palm from its sheath.

"You see a need for an extra blade, eh?" His father grunted. Around the room they fought - thrust and parry, feint and counterfeint. By now their arms were a little sore from the chop blocking they had done to each other.

Hanma continued to back, but now he directed his retreat toward the exercise table. 'If I can turn him beside the table, I'll show him a trick' , Hanma thought. 'One more step, Father.'

Han took the step. Hanma directed a parry downward but was rebuffed as Han had seen the plan, his leg shot up and hooked behind his sons pivot and relieved him of his balance.

Hanma crashed into the ground, bruising his back. "Ah!" He exclaimed from the impact.

"I should whap your backside for such carelessness," Han said. "This in the hand of an enemy can let out your life's blood! You're an apt pupil, none better, but I've warned you that not even in play do you let a man inside your guard with death in his hand."

"I guess I'm not in the mood for it today," His son said as he picked himself of the ground.

"Mood?" Han's voice betrayed his emotional control over himself. "What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises - no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the guzheng. It's not for fighting."

"I'm sorry, Father."

"You're not sorry enough!" Han took a deep breath. "Tomorrow you'll do power sprints under my observation." He named his punishment for his son.

"Yes, Father." Hanma replied solemnly. ""The way you came at me," He said. "Would you really have drawn my blood?"

It took a moment for Han to regain his calm. He withdrew the knife, straightened. "If you'd fought one whit beneath your abilities. I'd have scratched you a good one, a scar you'd remember. I'll not have my som fall to the first trap or sneak attack that happens along." Han explained. "The boy…its been 3 months, how far along has he come?"

——

Yamamoto POV

"Again."

From the balcony, Han ordered me to do my movements again. Over the course of 3 months I had progressed steadily. I could now touch my toes easily, and do the horse stance for more than 5 minutes.

With that done I was moved onto hand to hand and sword training. In my hand I had a wooden Dao. A Dao is a single-edged Chinese sword, primarily used for slashing and chopping. Due to its design, stabbing was not very optimal.

From Hanma's words "the dao is considered one of the four traditional weapons, along with the gun (stick or staff), qiang (spear), and the jian (double-edged sword), called in this group 'The General of Weapons'."

Use of the dan dao is characterised by speed and aggression coupled with slashing and whirling movements. This meant stamina, like a forms of combat, was a BIG must. 'Things such as those sprints had helped me out some.' I thought to myself as I went through my kata's with the dao.

Trained, I start with the first motion; Inside Flower, were I strike forward then spin the sword in front of me.

Next is the Outside flower, just everything opposite

. With that down I immediately transition to figure 8 or both inside and outside flower and from then I wrap it behind me, as the blade comes to my back, I rotate my hips away from the blade and as the blade comes from my back I immediately go into the figure 8, starting a loop that gets quicker with every twirl.

"Both."

At Han's call I introduce wrapping both sides of my body as the blade comes of my back at a fast speed, I rotate my hips back to their original spot, lift my arm above my head and spin the blade along my front side that goes back into the loop smoothly.

"Head."

I maneuver my blade to head level and spin the blade around my head and continue into the loop.

"Good wrist control, learn to get faster quicker." He said as he walked to the steps and came down. "Show me your hand to hand kata."