Eyes Up, Guardian

Chapter 32

"Eyes up." Shiro's voice cut into Tessa's thoughts and she looked up, reaching out just in time to catch a short sword he had tossed to her.

"What's this?" She questioned, catching a second when he tossed it to her. Each sword was a bit longer than her forearm, the blade long enough to match the length from her fingertips to her elbow. They were simple blades, each curved slightly upwards with soft leather grips at the hilts. Other than that, there were few defining characteristics to them.

"These," Shiro said, drawing his own pair, "Are what I use when I'm bladedancing." He said, "They give you more range, and a better swing." He told her, rolling his right wrist and flexing his shoulders as he prepared to fight. They were standing in the courtyard area where Damian had first encountered Sepiks, having set up a workstation with Tyra in the building beside it, needing a bit more of a workstation than the spaces outside the temple had provided.

"Damian is getting ready to head into the plaugelands." Shiro continued, "He'll call me once he gets into the area, but for now, we have a little while to get some training done." He told her, carrying a little radio they'd connected to their little coms station inside. He set the radio on the steps beside the building, a little projector popping out and beginning to display the view from Damian's helmet, though currently it was sitting in the passenger seat on his ship, in orbit around the planet.

"I don't see how these are going to help me." Tessa said, raising the swords, "I don't have a whole lot of light to use, unless I start pulling from Damian, and I don't think Saladin wants me to do that."

"You're not going to be bladedancing with these." Shiro told her. "I did a bit of digging last night. Tyra says when the Iron Lords went to fight SIVA, it fought back, puppeting them against each other, corrupting their weapons and their armor." He went on. "I can't help you with your light, but if you can show Saladin you can hold your own without it, he'll have no choice but to agree to let you in to help Damian. And it's harder to corrupt a sword than it is to corrupt a gun."

"Alright." She said with a nod, "I'm pretty good with swords, let's do this."

Shiro lunged, first with his right, bringing the sword down in an arc towards her. She parried with her left, sidestepping the next blow that followed. Before he could recover, she turned and slashed out at him with the sword in her right hand. He spun out of the way, with the grace only a trained bladedancer could have. She hurried after him, struggling to keep herself on the offensive. She used the steps beside them, leaping up onto one and then into the air to give her height, angling her blades down at him as he came out of his spin. He sidestepped her easily and she hit the ground in a roll, twisting over onto her stomach to stop herself in a crouch so she could watch his oncoming attack.

She did her best to learn from him, watching every step more than just to avoid having her head sliced off. She mimicked the way he spun and dodged, the way he tucked his blades in close to become a smaller target when evading, and how he was careful not to leave his sides unguarded.

By the time he'd disarmed her, she was panting heavily. Without her helmet, and Echo's help, the high elevation had her gasping after even a short fight.

"You two look like trained ballerinas." Tyra remarked from where she stood in the doorway of the small building they'd claimed.

Tessa huffed a laugh, though she was sure she looked a bit like a fish as she practically gulped in air, moving over to sit down on the steps nearby.

"This elevation is kicking my butt." She confessed, reaching down to pick up a water bottle Echo had transmatted beside her.

Shiro chuckled, "Sure." He said, "That's what it was." He joked, and she rolled her eyes, though she was cut off from replying by a chirp from the radio. They all glanced over at it to see Damian in his ship, grabbing his helmet and sliding it on as his ship headed towards the plaguelands.