Stardate 2250.75
Caernarfon, Earth, Sol System, Alpha Quadrant
"Hey, what's the answer to this question?"
"Han, figure it out yourself."
"Come on, just this question."
"Fine."
"Yes! Here. So?"
"I don't know."
"I thought you were supposed to be a genius."
A loud thump and laughter echoed through the dining room. Several more thumps followed as the laughter increased, and Ravi kept on whacking her brother with her textbook until Sian came into the room and gave them both a disapproving look.
"Why is it that the second I leave you two alone, you're always hitting each other?"
"It's how we bond," Jóhann said, a goofy grin on his face.
"It's actually just one of many methods with which you annoy me," Ravi said flatly, giving her brother a deadpan stare.
"It's love, Rav."
"You're both out of your minds," Sian sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it's really me who raised you."
"Don't sell yourself short, mam. You're just as sane as we are," Ravi said airily.
"Oh, how comforting."
Sian pulled a face at Jóhann and Ravi then left the room. Ravi whacked her brother one last time before gathering up her homework and heading to the peace and quiet of her room. The stone walls had been painted white to match the rest of the house—effectively covering up the pale green that had been there when she was a child—save for one wall that had been stripped of all paint and brought back to its natural grey. A moss-coloured knit blanket that Sian had made when Ravi was six lay folded neatly at the foot of the bed, showing off the old cream quilt that Ravi had somehow grown fond of over the years. Underneath the window sat her desk and it overlooked the farmland at the back of the house. In the greens and yellows of the grass, Ravi could see the beginnings of purple heather buds sprouting up across the field.
Ravi transferred her homework to the computer and set her PADDs and stylus aside. She sat at her desk, turning the computer monitor towards her so that she could see the farmlands beyond it, and continued her advanced mathematics homework without distractions.
"Ravi," the girl heard Sian call. "It's twenty to three."
Ravi glanced down at the time on the monitor and jumped out of her chair. She went to her closet and grabbed her large duffel bag, then ran to the laundry room in the basement to fetch her dobok. Ravi stuffed it in her bag and ran back up a flight of stairs, skidding to a halt as she reached the entryway.
"You're going to be late," Jóhann said in a sing-song voice.
"You forget that I'm the fastest runner at school," Ravi said, smiling cockily.
She hopped around and put on her shoes, trying hard not to fall as Jóhann poked her and put her off balance. Then she threw her coat on, swung her bag over her shoulders, and dashed out the front door. Ravi's feet pounded the compacted dirt trail as she ran across it. In half the time of a human being, she had gone far off Sian's property. Ravi could feel every muscle in her legs spring back after it had extended, pushing the girl forward faster than most in the area had seen before. As she ran past neighbours, long black hair whipped backwards, barely a blur in their field of vision by the time they'd realised what had gone by. In ten minutes, Ravi was in town, and she jumped over low fences and dipped between hovercars to get to her destination on time. At the seventeen minute mark, she'd made it to the dojang, and she took a deep breath to centre herself before entering.
"Don't think I didn't see you hop the fence to get here."
Ravi winced and turned towards the voice.
"I'm sorry, sabum-nim," Ravi said. She bowed deeply. "I got distracted by my homework."
"At least you got lost in your studies," the instructor said, patting Ravi on the shoulder. She straightened herself out. "Next time, just make sure it's not on your promotion day, hm?"
"Yes, sabum-nim. Thank you."
Ravi bowed again and bolted for the locker rooms. Several of the other athletes greeted her as barrelled in. Ravi returned their greetings with a nod, then kicked off her shoes and shoved them in her locker.
"You're cutting it close today, Rav," one of the girls chuckled.
"Don't remind me, Alice," Ravi groaned, pulling her shirt off. She readjusted her sports bra and pulled on a clean white shirt. "Just had to be on my promotion day, didn't it?"
"Oh, that's right. What rank are you up again?"
"She's up to earn her second dan, already," Lillie Thomas said with a sigh. "I'm so jealous. I think I've peaked at blue."
"Did you do the written test?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, last week. No clue how I did yet." Ravi paused and looked at the two girls. "What're you doing here anyway? The dojang is closed this afternoon because of this test."
"We know. We're here to watch," Lillie said excitedly. "We haven't had a second dan student in years, apparently."
"There are probably a couple more of us sitting in the dojang already."
Ravi chuckled and shook her head. She put on her dobok and then carefully tied her black belt around her waist. Golden embroidery adorned the belt and, at the edge, a singular gold bar denoted her rank.
"Look at that gold bar," Alice sighed. "My red and black looks pathetic next to that."
"Come on girls," Ravi chuckled, as she wrapped her wrists and ankles with tape. "You'll get there. It took me four years to get my first dan."
"Girl, you were a black belt at eleven."
"Yeah, I also started at six years old and took my test for promotion every six months."
"Damn, you were made for this," Lillie said, slumping backwards. She suddenly sat up again. "If you pass this test, you can start teaching us!"
"Lil, you only started five years ago," Ravi laughed. "I've been doing this for eleven years."
"How long's this test anyway?" Alice asked.
"Don't know. As long as it takes."
"I've heard that it can go on for four to five hours," Lillie said, pulling a face.
"Yeah, that's about what I expect," Ravi said with a shrug.
"Do you have a life, or do you eat, breathe and sleep martial arts?" Alice asked, a little peeved.
"Well, I do dream of martial arts sometimes."
Ravi winked at the girls and disappeared into the dojang, leaving the two girls behind. However, they followed her out and sat with the other handful of students who'd come to watch Ravi obtain her second dan. She waved at them, a giddy smile on her face, and then began with her stretches.
She rolled her neck around a few times, bent her neck side to side, and then finally forwards and backwards. Ravi moved quickly through the shoulder stretches and then took her time doing back and waist stretches, making sure not to injure herself while bending or twisting. The rest of Ravi's stretching involved the legs and by the time the master instructor returned from his break, she was at the sitting stretches. Afterwards, she quickly did some ankle exercises and then moved on to prone stretches on her stomach and back. After another ten minutes, Ravi stood and began warming herself up by jumping, alternating the foot on which she put most of her weight. Slowly, she transitioned into a light and bouncy jog.
"You ready?"
"Yes, sir!" Ravi called powerfully, standing at rest position.
The instructor nodded and sat cross-legged on the floor while Ravi began her exercises. From the back, two first dan students Ravi had never seen before joined him. She felt a little nervous looking at them, but she quickly put them out of mind and started with several reps of jumping jacks before quickly transitioning into high knee raises. After the knee raises, Ravi moved on to more complex stretches designed to wear out the practitioner.
Following the short exercises, Ravi went through all the patterns and exercises of all the belts she'd previously earned. For an hour straight, Alice and Lillie watched as Ravi performed the basics for all ten belts—from white to striped red—and then black. After black, Ravi took a deep breath and demonstrated the forms that she'd learned for her first dan. Lillie winced as she kicked and turned in ways that she couldn't even fathom, and watched in awe as she completed them and flawlessly transitioned into the first pattern she'd learned for her second dan. She had to perform three, and each pattern contained over thirty individual moves. After the first pattern, Ravi was beginning to experience the burn in her muscles and she could feel the beads of sweat roll down her back and the side of her face. However, she completed all 119 movements and proceeded to the next step.
Ravi was joined by one of the two students that were sitting on either side of the instructor and, he helped her demonstrate half a dozen new sparring techniques involving different parts of the body as well as all the sparring techniques for previously earned belts. Alice and Lillie watched, a little scared, as she demonstrated the techniques cleanly and quickly, and though Ravi's muscles had begun to suffer, no one could tell.
The student returned to the instructor's side and the other joined Ravi to help her with kicks. He held boards for her to easily kick through and provided targets for Ravi to attain during flying kicks. She ran forwards and propelled herself into the air, twisting so that she kicked the boards at the right angles. Then the breaking tests came, and Ravi went through four types of breaking before succeeding a snapping a moderately sized stack.
As if giving a chance for the athlete to take a break, the next part of the test was stances. Ravi held herself still in over a dozen positions, which allowed her muscles to relax for a short while before she had to resume movement again. Self-defence techniques were next and Ravi easily caught the bo staff that her instructor tossed at her. She demonstrated the half dozen forms with the staff, spinning it skillfully alongside her patterned movements, then threw it back at her instructor just as he tossed her two eskrima sticks. Again, Ravi performed all the necessary techniques and returned the weapons to her instructor.
One of the students handed her a pair of sai, and she began twirling them along with her movements, jabbing and retracting them when necessary. Not a single step was wasted as Ravi defended against her imaginary enemy and as her sets came to an end, the same student who'd handed her the sai handed her a set of padded sparring gear. They both took a few minutes to secure it to their bodies and then—after the correct procedure was followed, of course—the two began sparring.
Lillie and Alice quietly cheered Ravi on as she landed very technical kicks and jabs on her opponent and skillfully defended against his attempts to hit her. As planned, the student went to perform a grab, but Ravi countered him. She grappled him and swiftly kicked his feet from underneath him and pinned him to the ground for another successful demonstration. As she stood, the Ravi took a bo staff and got into position. The student took one as well and came at her almost immediately. They sparred for a short while, going through the forms and techniques to attack and defend. Then, the other dan student joined in, and Ravi's fellow students watched as she successfully defended herself against two opponents with a single bo staff. Eventually, the staffs were discarded and it returned to jabs, kicks and grabs, and Ravi was able to hold her own against both of them for the required two minutes.
As the timer went off, signalling the end of the test, Ravi bowed deeply towards her instructor and stood. She was breathing heavily and beads of sweat were dripping down her back and the tape around her wrists and ankles had become so humid that she was leaving foot and handprints on the mats. For a moment, as her instructor thanked the two dan students, she glanced over at the corner of the room. Sitting on a table was a second dan belt with her name embroidered on it, alongside two golden bars that showed her increased rank.
"Attention!"
Ravi immediately went into the attention position and she cracked a smile when her instructor went to the corner of the room and picked up the belt. Even her fellow students began to get giddy.
"Congratulations, Ravi."
The students on the sidelines cheered as Ravi bowed deeply to her instructor. When she stood, she untied her current belt and allowed the master instructor to tie it on her as a sign of respect. Then, he handed her a certificate, which she took with both hands, and she bowed again before turning to her dojang mates. They all ran at each other and collided, arms outstretched to fit in as many people in the embrace. They jumped up and down, cheering loudly until the master instructor kicked everyone out—as it was currently past closing hours.
Ravi didn't bother changing out of her uniform when she left the dojang. She waved her comrades goodbye and then slowly jogged back home as the sun was setting. By the time she'd gotten home, the stars and the crickets had come out, and they filled the night with a blissful calmness that Ravi could have bathed in.
"How'd it go!?" Ravi heard Jóhann and Sian shout simultaneously.
As they skidded into the entryway, Ravi held up the ends of her belt, proudly displaying the second golden bar. Jóhann and Sian cheered loudly, but as they went to tackle Ravi, she held up a hand to stop them.
"I need a shower and sleep," she said tiredly. "We'll celebrate tomorrow."
"Come on, not even a little celebration?" Jóhann asked.
"I'm only standing because of adrenaline and willpower. Once the adrenaline leaves, so does my willpower and down I go."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow."