The Weaver

Posted on 25 Jan 2013 @ 9:13am by

4,992 words; about a 25 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Holodeck
Timeline: MD 2 0620

ON:

Liyar entered the holodeck first, the doors opening to reveal the program he'd loaded into the sequencer prior to walking through. Maenad followed him in and the doors closed to reveal a simple yellow-on-black grid. The room was empty except for a small rack of light wooden sticks in the corner. He decided to head straight into the first lesson. "As you are Terran, I believe it would be wise to begin the session with a series of stretching to prepare yourself for the maneuvers you will be learning," he started. "As well, your body will require to adjust to the alien movements. If you would follow my lead." He lowered himself to the ground and sat with his legs crossed, motioning for Maenad to sit across from him. He drew himself up straight and held his hands in front of him, looking calm and intent up at her.

Maenad didn't expect to have to sit down for any of this, and the idea of warming up hadn't even crossed her mind. But, Liyar was in charge right now, and if he wanted her to warm up then she would have to. She reached to her side, beneath the uniform jacket and unclipped her skirt. It hadn't occurred to her that it might have looked like she were undressing, and she gave Liyar no warning. Liyar, to his credit, merely tilted his head to the side. She had put on a pair of black training shorts, over her tights of course, in case her skirt got in the way of whatever moves she was going to have to do. She carefully folded the skirt and set it down carefully on the floor, then pulled the jacket over her head. It didn't wrinkle like the skirt could, so she just tossed it off to the side. She smiled down at Liyar and, following him, sat across from him crossed legged as he was.

Liyar nodded at her when she was sitting, a sign that they were ready to begin. He led her through a first series of basic stretches, indicating for her to copy him. He was going at a lower level than he normally would, given this was Maenad's first introduction to kheile'a and her body had not evolved to accommodate a lot of the moves. The first series was simple and perhaps even familiar, folding one's leg outward and bracing hands against the feet, tucking one leg in and leaning over before extending both out. They followed a basic series of stretching until Liyar felt that it was acceptable to begin the first part. When they were through with that, the lesson amped up a bit and Liyar stood, gesturing for her to do the same. "Now I will demonstrate the lerekhan. This is the opening sequence. Then I will assist you in achieving the kan'sho."

Liyar stepped backwards and kicked his right leg up immediately, grabbing a hold of it with his right hand. He held it and then dropped, using his momentum upon landing to shift onto the other leg. He swept his right leg over again with his outstretched hand on top of it, guiding it over and outward. He landed on his right foot, shifting his weight down to bring himself into a semi-crouch. He brought his left arm down and over, resting with his hands held out. He allowed the right lock to dip downward a bit and then snapped his legs together, spinning to land on the opposite left foot. "As a defensive art, kheile'a focuses primarily on the strength concentrated in your legs," he explained. He pushed off with one foot and spun into a roundhouse, landing lightly and entering into a consecutive kick. "The ability to properly maneuver your legs, hips and feet will be paramount to your mastering this. The lerekhan movements will help you build muscle necessary to complete the more complex maneuvers." He walked back over and outstretched his hand, looking down at her feet. "You recall the first maneuver I did. It is called the kan'sho." He stopped beside her. "It is one of the stretches which are involved in the kheile'a. I will require to initiate physical contact in order to properly show you the position hold. Over time, you will be able to hold the kan'sho on your own. You place a high kick, here, this way." He demonstrated again more slowly, lifting his leg up and then raising it higher until he was able to grip it with his hand. He leaned into it a little and then dropped, before coming around closer near her. "Up, as if you were doing the roundhouse they teach in the Starfleet set. Set your foot back here, like this." He placed one of his feet over hers, gently sliding it backwards a little to give her more maneuverability.

Blank, but rather impressed with this apt part of Liyar she had never seen before, Maenad allowed him to move her like a doll. She didn't know what was doing, and didn't want to wind up hurting herself. It had been a year since she had had to use any of the self-defense she had been taught by training with SFI, but she knew that she was capable of this particular move. "Okay," she whispered, watching his foot move against hers. "Now what?" she looked at him attentively.

Liyar watched as she kicked up and he carefully grasped the side of her leg, near her upper calf, guiding it upwards until it began to get uncomfortable. He was quieter than usual, more intense, focused. He grasped her right arm in his other hand and wrapped her fingers around her own leg, letting her lean back against him. "The kan'sho is a maneuver that will allow you to enter into a seamless variety of moves," he explained to the back of her neck. The stretch there was a powerful, almost inhumanly possible one to hold. Liyar counted to five and then let her drop, looking down at her leg. "Once you land, you are prepared to step, this way." He let her up a little, moving his hand down to her opposite foot and lifting it. He was kneeling a little. "The momentum of the kan'sho will provide more power. So you land," he looked to her planted foot, "And then turn on your heel." He waited until she swiveled slightly. "And kick outward with this leg here." He squeezed her ankle gently as she followed through into a forward kick. He stepped back and mimicked her position, swiveling on his right foot and powering out with his left, bringing his right hand into a powerful jab in front of him. "This will allow you to use your arms and hands as well," he said. He guided her back to him and helped her get into the previous position. His touches were warm with his body heat and light, something other than impersonal but not improper, either. When he spoke, his voice had taken on a more quiet, private tone, as if they were suspended in their own bubble in time. "With this, you can also sink your weight this way." He spread his left leg outward and fell into the semi-crouch of before. "This gives you an advantage of three dimensional territory. An opponent can be repelled from any side of you. He waited until she mimicked the squat and showed her, first reaching his hand out to her chest. "You can repel this," he moved to her leg to attempt to kick it out. "And you can use your footing to break a leglock, this way. You shift onto your left and bring it up, into a sweeping kick. Here, and here," he pointed to the center of his abdomen and his neck.

Watching and listening to Liyar's instructions as carefully as she could, Maenad followed his lead and did as she was told. "I can do this one," she said finally, after the kick had been demonstrated. "It is not unlike the one I already know from the little training I have already received," she recalled the training she did for the mission to Cardassia she'd done. Her kick was good, she knew. She had had to use it twice, and it was tried and proven. "But," she grinned like she had an argument coming his way as she turned her neck to look at him, "I doubt I'll ever be in a situation where I'll to fend off multiple people."

"Perhaps not," Liyar agreed. "Nevertheless, a full comprehensive understanding of kheile'a is what will allow you to avoid any potentially dangerous situation and to escape from it." He led them through the exercise again. He caught bits and pieces of her thoughts, but he let them go fuzzy. He guided them back to an at-ease pose and held his hands out in front of him. "Form a fist," he said, looking at her. "In order to properly understand the movements of your feet in correspondence to the body, we first begin by utilizing mar'shaan. Each point in the body can be manipulated to produce a specific response." He watched her form a fist and walked over to correct it a little, tucking her thumb properly. It was a mistake even professionals made. "These points are concentrated here," he pressed his finger against both sides of her shoulders, her abdomen, her back where her kidneys were located, several points on her spine and the back of her head. "Your arms," he glanced down toward them, "Are also another key point. With your fists, you strike out." He lashed out and stopped just before touching her. "With your arms, you repel. The easiest spot on the body to strike at is here." He placed a hand over his solar plexus. "I am aware that you have already received some training in self-defense. I would like you to attempt to strike me using a closed fist."

Maenad blinked. He wanted her to what? How? "Where?" she asked him.

"Anywhere that you wish," Liyar said, gesturing to himself slightly.

Hesitating, she really didn't want to do that. "Liyar, I don't want to hit you," she said quietly. "I know you'll take me down if I do."

"That is not the purpose of this exercise," Liyar said, tilting his head and blinking.

Maenad still hesitated, but she had agreed to do this as long as he promised to practice his own training with the safeties on, and she always kept her word. "Just, don't hurt me," she said. "I mean it."

"I am not going to harm you," Liyar said gently.

Then after a slight pause, however meagre it was, she gave him her fist as though she were trying to knock him out in a single punch, though it was probably weaker because she was expecting to fail and was expecting some kind of unpleasant repercussion.

Liyar used the back of his forearm to repel her fist outward, and lightly grabbed her arm, using his foot to shift her left leg backwards. His left arm was free, and he moved it forward and lightly touched it to her shoulder. "This is called the mar'shaan kemah." He swept his hand over the entire exposed area of her chest. "This is the most effective block that you will learn to use. Not only are you wide open to attack, but you are also now off-balance," he explained, still holding her arm in his hand without any force. "I could take you down in many ways here, which I shall show you to do as time passes. The head, open. The chest. The abdomen. The shoulders. The mar'shaan is an effective weapon. So is the lerekhan, and many others designed to dole out attack. Yet, the most simple and powerful moves are these. Shielding. In any position that you find yourself in, you must see the counterattack," Liyar explained. "For instance, as you are," he stepped back, leaving her in the position he had before. "You can easily apply htharan, a head butt. Using your knee, attempting another punch. You can sweep your leg through mine, this way." He guided her foot with his. "Using this, to upset my balance and employ one of the jrian kata. The easiest of which is a punch, this way, to the throat. While you are being held, you still have an advantage. You must think through the maneuvers and turn them to reality," he explained, guiding them both through another series of blocks and holds, progressing at a slightly faster rate than before. A month of training a year ago hadn't done her a lot of good, be she was familiar enough with how training worked, which was good. He led her into some more stretches, languid and easy, back and forth. "So you see, you try it again. Anticipate my movement. It is a flow. You must be in tune with the other person, it is a resonance. One moves, and then the other. Fluid. You feel?" he asked as they moved through. Liyar straightened and gestured to himself again for her to attack.

Maenad gave him a noiseless sigh, not sure that she did feel. She heard him, but did she actually get it? Could she put it into practice? Liyar was putting a lot of confidence in her. This was, after all, entirely his idea. Why he had become so concerned with her safety, she did not know. She would save the question. "All right," she said, prepping a second strike. She kept her eyes on him, readying herself while trying to boost her own confidence. With all that Liyar had shown her somewhere in mind, she went at him again.

Liyar stopped her mid-punch, holding her hand outward and letting it drop. "Maenad. You need to relax," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders to focus her attention. "Breathe." He inhaled a little and then let it out, as if to show her what he expected. "This is not something that you can be taught in a day. This training will take time. To learn to master it, you will need to be comfortable with yourself. Your position in space. Your opponent. To anticipate them, to get into tune with them. The first step in this is to relax. Follow my breathing. You may not think this is practical, and I am aware that you believe it is unnecessary, but I implore you for now to let those thoughts go. Focus on the present moment. Here, with me. Breathe. All the way through to your stomach, do not keep your breath concentrated in your lungs. That is traumatic breathing, and it gears your brain to release adrenaline where it should not. Deeper." He focused a fist at his lungs and took a breath again, and kept going, moving his hand down to his abdomen. "This way. Try it with me."

Maenad closed her eyes in frustration. She didn't want to fail him, but this wasn't working out. Who was she kidding? She was no fighter, or even a good defender. She was fast on her feet and not bad with a phaser, but this fancy self-defense that Liyar had probably been doing all his life was proving an embarrassment for her. Nonetheless, she joined with him in his breathing. Maybe Liyar forgot that she didn't meditate like he did.

She opened her eyes, looking into his as she felt the calm touch of his strong hands on her delicate shoulders, like she were made of porcelain. Still, she followed his breathing. Eventually, she smiled. During the breathing exercise, Maenad was thinking of all the care he'd used with her, and his genuine desire for her to be able to protect herself. "I don't understand why you're doing this," she said to him very quietly, looking him in the eyes. "I am in no immediate danger, and I never have been. Why do you care so much about my self-defense?" The question wasn't rude or harsh, or even impatient. Maenad wasn't sure she understood the Vulcan's interest in her, and she wanted to know what it was. "I am sure that I am not the only one on the ship who could benefit from your training, but you have chosen me above all the rest." She gave him a soft smile.

Liyar looked down at her, unblinking, eyes inscrutable. His thumb migrated slightly over, a centimeter or so, until he could feel her pulse-point. "You are my friend." He didn't know how to explain it further. Why it mattered, why he cared. The only answer he could come up with was that. It was a hardly suitable one. "You were a target on this vessel. You still are. I do not wish you to come to harm. It would not be logical." He resettled his hands properly and guided her through the rest of the breathing exercises. These were designed to relax the body, and create a sense of peace. Meditation or not, it was difficult to argue with neurology. Liyar tilted his head toward her again. "Do you feel?" he asked again. The sensation of being in tandem. "It is a knowing. A familiarity. With yourself. Your movement. Relaxed. Certain."

She felt his thumb against the pulse at the base of her neck. You are my friend. A wide smile appeared on her lips, but she had no words. Rather than talking for talking's sake, she just returned herself to following his instructions. Maenad took several slow, deep, breaths. "I do," she said finally. Her eyes were closed as she continued, focusing on the air she inhaled and exhaled, the touch on her shoulders. More relaxed than she was before, she waited for her next instructions.

Liyar stepped back, eyes intent and focused on her. He held out his hand as he stepped backward, indicating for her to get into the proper defensive position he had shown her previously. Legs standing somewhat apart, feet planted on the ground. He'd had to correct her tendency to 'bounce' on her feet like a boxer but once she learned the basic movements through her hips and shoulders in terms of dodging and attacking, Liyar came up toward her, his own hands raised slightly. He wouldn't hurt her. At least now, this much was certain between them. "All right. Now you try it again." He tapped his shoulder and gestured to his upper torso. "Solid punch. Like I showed you. Feel it this time." He was smiling with his eyes, even if his expression was as calm as ever.

She no longer needed to say anything or think too much about what she was doing. Maenad closed her eyes for a moment, trying to psyche herself up for the punch. Opening them, she struck toward where Liyar had said to.

Liyar was going easy, but it wasn't a 'going easy' as much as it was simply a lesson, so Liyar's movements were a little slower, but no less sure of himself. Liyar ducked under her punch, passing it over his shoulder and kicking one of her legs as if to put her down. She sidestepped it just as he'd showed her and they circled one another upright again. "Good," he said. "Very good. You are anticipating me now. You recall the block? The shield technique?" He braced one forearm out. "From here, I move this way." He stepped over to the side, until he was directly in front of her. "And you must repel. Your fists, they strike. Your arms, repel. You remember this. Block." He stared down at her and, and let out a light punch.

Smiling at her own small success, she didn't have time to bask in it as Liyar moved to attack. Instinctively, but based more on the little bit of training she'd been given, she blocked the fist with her forearm, moving it to the side whilst kicking out his leg, grabbing his free arm with her other hand. She grinned at properly defending herself. "Like that?"

Liyar nodded. "Yes, that is the way," he said with what for a Vulcan might be considered encouraging. "Now that you have me open for attack, there is a number of things you may do now. For instance," he said, going slowly in his steps to show her how it was done, he guided her into turning him around, with his arm behind his back. "You recall the pain compliance technique I showed you earlier? From this position, you are easily able to apply a maneuver such as this." He dropped the stance and turned back to face her, taking her arm in his. "The points here, in the shoulder. And in the wrist, here. He guided her arm behind her back. He touched points on her shoulders and wrists as he spoke, gently turning her arm into the compliant position. He exerted a small bit of pressure at her shoulders, and then at her wrists, turning it to 'lock' gently. "As our lessons progress, I will be teaching you the main pressure points necessary to learn and employ moves such as this." He guided them back to facing one another again, planting his feet on the ground as they'd done originally in the defensive stance. "When someone is coming at you, the primary method of block such a thing is to learn to use your hips. When you strike me, again," he indicated by gesturing backward toward himself. He waited for her to throw another punch.

And she did, with a renewed sense of confidence, she threw another punch toward him. A better one than before.

And then he swiveled to the side, dodging it and circling around. "Again."

Not expecting to outright miss him, Maenad grumbled to herself about it being unfair, but she tried again, equally as properly.

He swiveled to the other side, dodging again, not taking his feet off of the ground. "You see? I begin to anticipate you. I move and flow as you do. These are the most basic stances in self-defense," he explained, and then straightened up.

She didn't say anything, but she felt a distant ache in her shoulder blades. She drew them together to stifle its getting worse. Maenad wiped at her forehead with the sleeve of her tunic, sighing now.

Liyar offered her a slight bow, an indication that the lesson was over for today. He clasped his hands behind him. "You have done some good work, Maenad. I have confidence that you will be capable of learning kheile'a. It will not be easy, and the training process will take some time, but I would be gratified were you to continue you training with me. Our next session will be less practical and more focused on learning to move, to breathe, and to learn the points involved in the body."

With a somewhat embarrassed flush, Maenad shrugged. She didn't think she had done all that well, but she hadn't done all that badly, either. "Thank you," she smiled, looking at her feet. Even though she didn't necessarily believe it, she had heard somewhere that Vulcans never lied.

Liyar sat back on the floor and gestured for her to do the same, guiding them into a warm-down sequence. At long last, they both sat straight up again, loose and relaxed, if a little sore on Maenad's part from the training. Liyar simply cocked his head at her, eyes meeting hers. "How are you feeling now?" he asked, tucking his legs into a crossed-position.

Maenad had temporarily forgotten about how she'd been feeling earlier, when Liyar first came to get her. Being reminded, her look of contentedness faded away and and she slouched in her posture. She looked down at her crossed legs, thinking to herself how awkwardly long they were. She didn't know how to answer him. After a good minute, after she had repeatedly pinched her tights and let them snap back against her skin, she looked up at him. "I don't know how much you feel, Liyar," she said carefully, "But sometimes I envy you. I wish I could just not feel anything right now. Lirha is my friend. And she is very kind, and she is very warm, and she has only the best intentions. I fear that I have utterly ruined our friendship. I know what you said earlier, how you don't think it was my fault, but that means nothing to me." She looked back down at her folded legs, swallowing. "Because Vulcans are bound by logic, I imagine that you cannot properly understand human relationships. We are illogical. We knowingly do things that don't make sense, but we do them anyway, without thinking things through. And, sometimes we wind up hurting each other. For someone like me, who values friendship very much, when you realise that the pain caused in someone close to you is because of you, it hurts. And nothing can make it go away." She raised her eyes back to the Vulcan.

Liyar had more or less been referring to her feelings on the lesson itself, but he listened to her speak on her emotions with no less rapt attention than he would were she to have answered the question he meant. "We do feel," Liyar said quietly. "Vulcans feel very deeply, Maenad. It is the basis for our meditation. For our control. So that we may be rational, thinking creatures. But never does it dampen the reality that our passions are strong. Stronger perhaps than you could imagine. An envy of this, of our 'emotionlessness', may be misplaced," he said gently. "As for your feelings, I know that even as a Vulcan, I cannot truly comprehend what you are experiencing. I will, however, offer my sincerest regret that you are in pain over this. You are not a bad person, Maenad. You did not know, and Captain Saalm was negligent in persisting to offer you the suppressant. I should say it is a convergence of two actions on your parts which led to this. If she is pained over it, that is truly regretful. You could not have known. I can only offer my genuine insistence that it will get better. As you say. Over time. The two of you may reconcile. There are always possibilities. You have learned from this experience, and so has Captain Saalm, as we all must do. We all make mistakes in these areas," he said, quietly. "We hurt the people we care about," he said, in a way that wasn't impersonal. "We do not mean to, but it happens. We cannot know any better." He looked up and met her eyes. "But once we know better, Maenad, we do better."

But Lirha had offered her the suppressant. Still, the words were nice to hear, and to say that she didn't appreciate them would have been a lie. "I know you're right," Maenad whispered back to him, hearing her hushed voice on the empty black and yellow walls. "You are right." But, she had to change the subject. She couldn't dwell on her problems to Liyar anymore, like she noticed she'd been doing. She didn't want that kind of a relationship with him, or with anyone really. "I think I did well; better than I thought," she forced a smile, referring to the exercise. "I would be happy to continue further training with you, Mister Liyar. I really would."

Liyar nodded. "Indeed. I shall anticipate our continuing sessions." He led them both into a standing position. "At this time, if it is acceptable?" he asked. There really wasn't much room in their schedules for any additional times to practice. Unable to stop himself, he added, "Have you found that your transceiver is working as intended?", curious to know if she'd found any benefit of it at all. He found a stray hair or several dozen as it was looking to become a habit, and unconsciously brushed it back behind her shoulder where it belonged as though fastidiously fixing the cups or the books in her quarters before. An absent, idle thing.

"Yes, actually," Maenad smiled. "I sometimes sleep with it on. It's one of the most useful gifts I think I've ever received," she said honestly. "I wish I could add music to it, though." She had barely noticed that he had fixed her hair. "But I still enjoy it as it is."

"I shall endeavor to transpose more," Liyar decided with a nod. He gestured to the doors. "I do believe it is time for our shift to begin," he said, looking at the chrono on the computer station at the side of the door.

Maenad reached for her skirt and uniform jacket and stood up. She put the jacket on and reclipped her skirt. Once the skirt was back on she awkwardly took off the training shorts from beneath it. "I will see you later, then?" she said somewhere between a comment and a question, following him toward the doors.

"Yes," Liyar agreed as they exited the holodeck. They both had separate ways to go, so he turned but looked back for a moment before repeating again, "We shall see one another later," he repeated the colloquialism with an arched eyebrow before heading on his way, a significantly calmer demeanor permeating the atmosphere around him than before.

OFF:

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer, SSC
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

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