Something New

Posted on Mon Aug 24, 2020 @ 4:44am by Lieutenant Yukiko Winters

4,192 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD05 0900

The Broken Hammer was a large tavern, made of stone and wood, with a dirt floor which could soak up blood, booze and worse. Two stories tall, with the second story overlooking the first, and as usual both levels were packed. Lanterns burned on the walls, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, this one lit with a magic, golden light that made the rowdy place seem warmer and friendlier than it actually was.

The broken hammer that the tavern was named after hung up over the bar, a massive spiked war hammer with a shattered handle, supposedly destroyed on the rock-hard skull of a giant some handful of years ago by the owner. A stage in the corner held a small band, playing music while a handsome man and woman both wearing surprisingly little sang and danced for the enjoyment of the patrons, their voices hard to hear over the din of the crowd. Laz stood in the doorway, outfitted in black studded leather armor and a cloak. He pushed the hood down and touched the pair of heavy, curved knives belted around his waist. He turned to his companion and said, “What do you think?”

Silk had been thrilled to have gotten a call from Laz as he preferred to be called. He had suggested a night out with a bit of holodeck adventure and told her that is going to be a sword and sorcery adventure. So now she stood next to him looking into the rough and tumble tavern. She herself was not so dressed as he was, but instead wore a purple kimono but not so elaborately tied at the waist, more a simple several wrapping, It was slashed more at the lower end to reveal a decorated silk skirt with a floral pattern on it. There was a concession to some basic armor with leather paldrons that hung from her shoulders and a pair down her sides. Long glove like covered her lower arms ending in a sort of half hand glove from the short sleeves of the kimono. Belted to her waist on either side with the blades up were a pair of wakizashi. The shorter katana like swords. Easier to wield in a crowded area and with one hand. She had used a stimulator and now her platinum hair was long to match what she expected such an adventure to be like. She hoped Laz would like it.
"Not sure which is going to poison us first, the stench, the dancers, the food or the drink but any place out of the storm." As she said that a flash and peal of thunder rolled in.

The lightning briefly flashed across her features with dramatic timing and it made Laz smile. Her long hair had been a surprise, but it suited the look she was going for in the colorful kimono and the armor. He felt decidedly more simple in the rough leather armor the holodeck had replicated. She looked somehow glamorous and dangerous both. “I’d put my money on the stench,” he said. The simulation had crafted a surprisingly...earthy aroma for the tavern. “Let’s get some ale to chase it away.” They threaded their way amongst the tables, heading towards the roughly-hewn tree trunk turned on it’s side that functioned as the bar. A big man with a shaved head and a thick mustache looked them over. “What’ll it be, strangers?”

“Ale,” Laz ordered. “A flagon for us both.” He’d always wanted to order a flagon or ale. “That’s a flagon for her and for me.” He grinned.

Silk reached in to a hidden pocket and fetched a coin out. "You sir, are trying to get me drunk," she said with smile and sidled up to him making eye contact.
"Yami to hikari might not like that," she said patting the twin sheathed swords.

The bar keep had taken the coin, tested it and then returned with two mugs and flagons. "Ya what and what?" He said. "You name your swords?"

Silk shook her head. "No it is their names, Yami," she touched the left one, "darkness will take a soul. Hikari, light, will give it back. They are spirits in the form of sword." She held his gaze before he nodded.

"Alright, alright," he made some sort of sign. "Just curious."

“Something I’ve noticed about you,” Laz said as the keep moved off to pour their drinks, “you certainly know how to get attention, Silk.”

Silk laughed lightly. "Read the situation. Sometimes it is good sometimes it is bad. A woman carrying swords openly no matter what I was wearing would garner attention. Hence if you are going to get that attention make sure they know that you know. Anyway, there is legends from my mother's culture about such things. Superstition or stories but from what I gathered when you invited me, a bit of magic is involved and expected. If I did wrong I can change?" she finished with the question.

“Don’t you dare,” he replied. “You look perfect. Really perfect.” He looked at her for a moment longer, until the barkeep arrived with the ale, pulling Laz away from her.

“Two flagons of ale,” he said, setting them down on the bar. Laz dropped a couple of gold coins on the bar, and the big man scooped them up and wandered off, giving Silk another long suspicious look.

Picking up his ale, Laz held it up in a toast. “To darkness and light.”

"To darkness and light," she clinked her mug against his and very slightly tasted the beverage. It was not real ale thankfully, well it did not have any real alcohol in it. Alcohol and telepaths were a very bad mix.

"So now what do we do, just try to enjoy the entertainment if that is what you call it, play games or just call it an early night and go have some fun if the bed bugs are not too bad?" she asked after swiveling and watching the dancers.

“Well,” he said, sipping his ale. “I mean, I’d be an idiot if I programmed bed bugs to get in the way of that. But I recall when we first met you mentioning something about a bar fight. So I thought I’d give you your chance.”

As if on cue, they heard shouting on the top floor as two men stood, screaming at one another. One of the men, a large, green-skinned orc wearing furs and chainmail, drew a knife made of bone out of his belt and stabbed the other man in the chest with it. Then he lifted the man over his head, screamed with rage and hurled him over the railing of the balcony. The man sailed dropped downwards, smashing into a table, sending mugs of ale and plates of roasted meat scattering. There was a long, brief pause, and then people started drawing weapons.

The dancers, if one could call the lanquid gyrations dancing, fled the stage and disappeared into a back room with the thunking of a heavy bar. It was obvious that they knew what was going to go on and wanted nothing to do with it. Silk shook her head and was not used the feel of the longer hair sweeping her shoulders. "I see, what if we just watch?" she mused pushing one errant figure away with a sandaled foot. She knew it probably would not last that way but no use jumping into a fray unless needed.

The bar keep pulled up a heavy club of wood and was shouting and coming around to try to quell the group now throwing punches and using bladed weapon wildly. Finally a couple more errant blokes stumbled into them and knocked a bit of ale out the mug onto her kimono. "Ah now that is the insult. After you?" she said with a bit of laugh to Laz.

“Milady,” Laz replied, drawing his knives. While the tavern felt real enough, and so did the people in it, the whole simulation was designed for fun, less for realism. The men fighting who’d knocked into Silk were battling with short swords, and Laz dodged in towards them, going low, slashing a man’s calf. The other stabbed towards Laz’s face, and he knocked the blade away with his left knife and drove his right into the man’s midsection. His charge carried them both away from the bar, and sent the swordsman crashing down onto a table.

Silk really just enjoyed watching Laz fight. She occasionally pushed or punched a few but she just watched seeing how he handled himself the moves he made with the knives. She had trained with swords but the small blades like a tanto or dagger or bowie she was not familiar as familiar with. Thus it was a lesson to watch and see how he fought.

She felt bad for the inn keeper as bits of furniture were broken up from people falling into them or being used as weapons. It was no wonder that the bar and several of the benches were nothing more than quarter sawn logs. Speaking of the bar keep he punched one guy in the chest with his bludgeon which sent said orc from earlier reeling her way. She side stepped his crash into the bar and laughed lightly as he gathered himself up.

"Girl! You think funny?" he roared at her and made a swipe which she easily evaded. She caught the big arm using the momentum to pull him downward and with her other fist held steady. His weight and momentum did all that was needed and his nose took the main hit into her fist. There was a crunch and Silk stepped away letting him continue his path to the ground. He shifted around and roared as he felt for his even more smashed nose which was dripping blood.
"I am going to cut you in half!" He scrambled up ponderously and with one hand felt for the hilt of the blade of that bone sword. Before he even got it pulled twin blades flashed slicing long furrows down his massive chest. It was the advantage of carrying blade side up, faster draw and gravity made for a stronger blow, also then the cutting edge did not rest against the scabbard dulling it as it was carried.

The creature roared again and Silk stood ready. They were not mortal blows but they had to hurt. She twirled the left one quickly and said, "I do not wish to add any more souls to this one." He blinked at her and then came up with a strong upward and sideways blow. Silk leaned back as the tip breezed by her face and with her right sword caught his and continued the push. It was like before the extra push added to the momentum and unbalance him and left him open on his right side into which she plunged Yami. He stopped suddenly almost like he had been frozen and then in a blink winked out of existence. She turned to see if anyone else wished to try.

There was a rush of heat and a hum from the second floor as another shout sounded, people tumbled down, and a man glided easily over the railing. He was tall and lean, with long black hair and golden skin, his eyes glowing blue at her. A pair of leathery wings erupted from his back, allowing him to gently fall to ground. His armor was a polished, burnished copper, molded to his form. “You,” he said, his voice dripping with snarling hate. “I smelled those accursed swords as soon as they came through the door.” He carried a golden chain in both hands, one end of the chain ending in a wicked-looking dart, and it started to glow as he swung it. “I won’t rest until you and they both lie buried in this earth!”

It would appear Laz had programmed a nemesis for Silk.

Silk spared a glance toward Laz. He had mentioned he wanted to see what sword work was like. The weapon was similar gekigan-jutsu but with a pointed piece rather than a ball. She remembered her bushido training, these were not easy to work against. There advantage was keeping a enemy at bay their disadvantage was they need room to work and up close negated advantage. One had to keep out of the way as best and lure the opponent to getting the weapon tangled around something else. She could try to let the thing tangle around one sword and try to keep a grip allowing the opponent to pull her in which would close the distance and allow her second sword to do its work. First she would have to gauge exactly how this being moved and how the weapon completely worked.

Laz kept busy with his knife work, slashing and cutting furiously. He used his elbows and knees to strike away opponents, kicked knees and ankles to stop larger ones before they could use their larger weapons. Eventually, he managed to carve himself an opening to find Silk facing off against the winged warrior. “Oh, hey,” he said. “It’s Zanthrudal. He really hates you.”

Zanthrudal howled a blood-curdling scream of rage and launched himself through the air at Silk. The chain landed out in front of him, slicing through the air while the barbed, teardrop-shaped dart swung out towards her, snapping towards her left thigh, trying to hobble her so she wouldn’t be able to dodge his attack when he reached her.

Silk wished she could read minds here but these where holodeck creations and one could not read such things. Still the scream signaled the attack and Silk crossed her swords as she back peddled. She needed to keep distance until there an opening or it was too crowded to allow the weapon to work well. The wings of the creature would also have problems in a more enclosed space as well. Thus she moved toward the group and toward being under the balcony. The dart missed by centimeters and swung to hit a combatant. Though the pointed end did not hit directly the weight was enough to elicit a howl from the man as it hit his back. That was exactly what she wanted to do, keep moving toward enclosed space. Swords crossed meant that she could shield and less chance that the weapon would wrap sufficiently to wrest a sword from her hand. The creature followed swinging again but now hindered by the overhang. The wings negated and as expected the weapon caught on the swing around a post. This Zanthrudal pulled mightly though and the chain glowed to the point that it burned through the post. There was an ominous creak from the balcony but while it sagged it did not fall.

The creature could not swing the weapon only throw launch it and come at her. Silk continued to back but stumbled over a body. At that point the creature's weapon caught Hakiri and he pulled it from her hand. It took a moment to flick the sword away allowing Silk to scramble to her feet with only Yami left. He advanced backing her toward the wall. It would be awkward to throw here so he switched holding the weapon to almost like a whip. Lashing out a few times which she could parry.

"I am going to wrap this around your little throat and squeeze the life out of you!" he said. "Any last words?"

Silk nodded in the affirmative. "Watashi wa anata no mono o anata ni kaeshimasu,*" she intoned and made a bow still keeping her eyes on the advancing creature. From where Hakiri was it seemed a cloud formed and then it resolved into the shape of the orc. He blinked a moment and then advanced wrapping his massive arms around Zanthrudal and squeezing hard. There was a crunching sound as bones of the wings and rib cage crushed and Zanthrudal went limp.
The orc looked at Silk and shook his head. "You and I are done," he said and then stalked off ignoring the rest of the fight.

Silk retrieved her other sword and turned to look at the rest but the fight seemed to have wound down. She had missed most of watching what Laz had done with his knives but from the carnage it was obvious it had been devastating.

Laz moved like a wrecking ball through the tavern. He was smaller than many of the combatants there, the elves and the orcs, the humans in their chain and plate armor. But he was fast and he was aggressive. Two warriors in armor tried to press him into a corner, one wielding a huge axe, the other carrying a lighter double-edged sword.

The axeman swung the massive, twin-bladed axe towards Laz’s head, and Laz rolled under it, then kicked a chair towards the swordsman. The swordsman knocked the chair aside and stabbed at Laz’s chest. Laz parried with one of his knives, backed up, then did a half-turn, jumping towards the wall. He put his boot to it and leapt into the air, slashing at the axeman as he did. He managed to cut a piece of the orc’s pointed ear off. Landing on his shoulder on a nearby table, Laz rolled off of it and pressed the attack.

While the axeman was distracted with his ear, Laz stabbed and slashed at his side, turned towards the swordsman and pressed his attack. The swordsman found himself backed up by Laz’s sudden aggressive onslaught of attacks. He cut and stabbed high and low, blades a constant whirl of deadly steel. If he let the man get a little distance, Laz knew he’d lose, so instead he stayed close. Eventually, he opened up a number of minor wounds on the swordsman’s body, face and hands. However, he’s turned so much attention to the swordsman that he gave his back to the axeman.

With a roar, the axeman swung the axe towards Laz’s back. Laz saw it and was distracted enough to be rewarded with a “slash” across the forearm by the swordsman. The electric sting of the false cut made Laz drop his left knife. Cursing, he spun away, banging the hilt of his other knife against the swordsman’s temple. It stunned the swordsman enough that he couldn’t get away from his partner’s errant axe swing, and the blade chopped into his chest. Laz hurled himself towards his larger opponent before he could pull his axe free, smashing his knee into the man’s ribs, then brining his knife down into his neck. They toppled together and alas rolled free, then shoved himself to his feet. He saw Silk standing there watching him, and he grinned at her.

Silk nodded. "It looks like we have made a proper mess of the place, well perhaps all of us." She pushed a toe at one fallen being and quipped, "Time to pay up for the damages. If you are dead well then take what we need and leave the rest to the wolves, if you are still alive, something for the inn keep." She rubbed the two swords together a bit ominously.

There was a long pause where the tavern was silent save for the metal whisper of her swords sliding together, then a loud creak sounded. Suddenly, a snapping sound as one of the supports for the balcony, badly damaged in the melee finally gave in. Half of the balcony collapsed, crashing to the floor, showering splinters of wood, broken tables and what people remained on the upper level all over the ground.

The barkeep stared at it, holding his rag in his hand. Then, he exclaimed, “FUCK!” And threw the rag on the floor. Laz, unable to help himself, started laughing.

Silk put her weapons away and joined Laz in the laughing. Well while the place had been made a mess of she was sure there was more than enough coin or things that could be sold to help pay for his losses. She turned to Laz and went over. "I did not catch as much as I had hoped being somewhat distracted of your technique. Perhaps when things are not so...." she looked around at the carnage. "Busy, you can show me more. These are about as short a blade as I am comfortable with."

“You did really well with them,” Laz replied. He picked up a mug of ale from the bar, checked to make sure there wasn’t any blood or splinters in it and took a drink. “Even against Zanthrudal. Nice work.”

"Well I suppose we should find a place for the night? I am not sure if the structure is going to hold long enough to do us much good."

Laz looked at the Broken Hammer Tavern. It had certainly seen better days. “You’re right,” he said. “Let’s splurge and upgrade. Computer, load the next program in the sequence.” The holodeck shimmered all around them, and the tavern was replaced by a spacious, ornate bedchamber. A large four-poster bed took up the center of the room, and a wardrobe hung open with more comfortable clothes of all sort to wear. The dirt floor was replaced by a thick, soft rug under their feet. A fireplace crackled nearby. “How’s this look?”

"Nice," Silk smiled. "I am guessing you are looking for a different adventure?" She gave him a look that spoke volumes.

“Well, let’s say I don’t like to make assumptions,” he replied. “But I also believe in the value of hope in these dark times.”

Silk took the swords off and unbound the sash holding the outer kimono closed. "Still before we do, shall I show you something?"

“Yeah,” he replied, curious. He had taken off his belt and set the knives on the table nearby. “You can show me anything, Silk.”

Silk nodded and took one of the swords and handed it to him hilt first. "Here take this and then..." she touched his temple. As she did so she said, "Learn what I have learned, feel the thing in your hand, how I know how it feels, how I know what to do." She then took her hand away and pulled the other sword and took a stance. "Now try," she said. "I have shown you that one can share memories, feelings, but this one can pick up skills as well. You said you were not very familiar with sword work but see how it works now."

She then took a quick slash toward him.

Laz moves without even thinking about it, turning the sword to meet her slash. Steel clashed against steel, and he shifted the sword in his hand in a reverse grip. Then he pushed against her, and knew the distance and the speed of the weapon, how to maintain his guard and attack when necessary. It felt like he’d been using the sword in years. When she attacked again, he parried, countered and jumped back perfectly out of range of his sword. He gaped at her and the sword in his grasp. “What the hell was that?!”

Silk put her sword down and chuckled. "A little something I learned I could do. I can take and give things that are learned. Oh, it will wear off in a bit. You cannot force the neural pathways for long. I found it useful for picking up quick language lessons or other things. So basically what I did is pass on my knowledge to you, you might remember a bit but again it is mostly a temporary thing."

He laughed at that, and twirled the sword in his grip. “You’re full of surprises, Silk,” Laz said. It felt natural holding the weapon, moving it around in his grasp, planning angles of defense and attack. “There’s always something new tucked away somewhere with you, isn’t there?” He found it a challenge to want to learn more.

"Just like a kokeshi doll," Silk replied. "Always something else to look for. Anyway," she waved a hand smiling as he tried the sword positions. "Why I did well both uncover and as a diplomat." She almost snorted on that last word. "So, what is next on our little adventure?"

He twirled the sword once more, a little more clumsily, the muscle memory fading a bit. “Well, first, take that before I accidentally break it,” he said, handing her the sword. “Second, there’s a nice, big fireplace here and a nice, soft rug. I thought we might take advantage of them both...”

Silk put the sword on the table and smiled. ""Come then," she offered a hand moving toward indicated soft rug. "After a hard battle, a good massage to help relax and then..." she just winked at him.



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* I give you back that which is yours

 

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