Chapter Two:
The dojo was located in the basement of a downtown office building. It consisted of a very large, carpeted floor area with a small space in the corner partitioned off for use as an office. There were various weapons displayed on the walls: a wooden staff, several different swords, nunchucks and others. These were interspersed between several woven pictures such as a Tao symbol and a tiger fighting a dragon. The doorway was flanked by two benches up against the wall. Coat hooks were above them and people's shoes lay beneath them. A few parents were sitting, staying out of the way as they watched their own kid participate.
As the quartet walked in, they saw several small groups practicing in different areas of the spacious room. In one corner half a dozen children performed simple katas with an instructor while eight men and women by the opposite wall tried blocking maneuvers on each other. One half of the floor was taken up by the smallest class, who obviously needed the room. Three people were being led in sword katas by one teacher, staying well away from the other two classes. Even practice swords could be dangerous.
Xander's gaze was moving around the room, finding everything of interest, but nothing particularly catching his attention. The other three were all looking at the sword class. Buffy was drawn to the swords themselves and the skill with which they were being wielded. But both Willow and Giles had their eyes glued on the man leading the others through the forms,
Dressed simply in a black t-short with a picture of Celtic knotwork encircling a dragon and some sweatpants, the man was well-muscled and moved with unconscious grace. He had wavy dark hair that, even pulled back in a ponytail, reached his shoulder blades. He was tall and had dark skin, his complexion not tanned so much as golden. His eyes were chocolate brown and, in his concentration with the sword forms and his class, could be seen to hold compassion, humor, wisdom, and pain in their depths. He was sweating slightly from the exertion but compared to his three students, who were all covered with moisture, he could have been simply taking a jog around the block. He had obviously been practicing the art of the sword for a long time; the weapon seemed so much an extension of his own body, that it was hard to imagine him without it.
As Giles and the teens watched the small class practice forms, the adult class moved on to slow exercises and the children's class wrapped up. The kids' instructor made sure all of his charges had someone to go home with, answering a few questions along the way, and then turned towards the four. He was an inch or so shorter than Giles but well built, obviously keeping in shape, and had a shock of short blond hair set around a friendly face. He smiled at them and held out his hand, gaining their attention.
"Hi! I'm Mike Carpenter. I own this place. Sorry about so much going on tonight. Scheduling is really hard during the school year, but tonight's the only time of the week we have this many classes going simultaneously. Did you come to just watch or are you thinking of taking a few classes?"
Willow shook her head slightly, "Classes? Me? I mean, us? Oh no! That is, well, we're here for Buffy."
Giles cleared his throat slightly and Mike turned towards him. "Yes, um, we did come to, uh, check this place out, as you say. Buffy here," and he indicated the girl in question, "requires some more advanced training in fighting techniques. She has completely exhausted my own, admittedly limited, knowledge."
Mike smiled at Buffy, looking her over. "You look fit. I'd have to test your knowledge first before I know which class to put you in."
"Uh, okay, but really, the group thing just doesn't work for me."
Giles pushed his glasses up his nose. "That is to say, uh, we are attempting to look into the possibility of private instruction."
Mike nodded to the librarian, turning back to Buffy, "Well, I'd still want to test you, but for the most part, I leave the negotiations for individual lessons up to the instructor. I did see you eyeing Duncan's class."
Buffy grinned and nodded eagerly as Willow leaned over to Xander, "His name's Duncan," she whispered a little dreamily to her confused-looking friend, who just smiled slightly down at her.
Mike continued on, not noticing the exchange. "He's only been here a few weeks but I've never seen a better martial artist and he's even better with the sword. I let him take over both my sword classes as soon as I hired him. What I do for private classes is charge a flat fee for use of the space and let the instructor determine payment and schedule. Sound good?"
All four nodded, Buffy saying "Definitely!" She was thinking about how to incorporate a sword, or maybe a long dagger, into her Slaying. Steel might not hurt vampires, but decapitation killed them as surely as stakes. Mike smiled at them and nodded back. "Great! As soon as his class is over, I'll introduce you to Duncan and then we can get to the business of finding out where your skill levels lie."
Giles agreed, murmuring quietly, "I think you'll find them quite satisfactory. Impressive even."
Mike simply cocked an eyebrow at the man, saying nothing. He was used to parents, or guardians in this case apparently, who believed their children to be prodigies and wouldn't believe otherwise. As for himself, he would wait and see.
The group sat on the benches as the pupils from the second class filed out, some making later plans with each other, others hurrying to get home. The sword class had moved into their closing exercises and Giles could not tear his eyes from the figure of Duncan. Surely this was the gorgeous MacLeod Willow had mentioned taught here. But like any good researcher, Giles would wait until he had facts, not supposition, even if it were just about the man's name.
Perhaps ten more minutes passed as Duncan wrapped up the class, speaking a little with each of his students, offering praise and pointers, and then sending them on their way. As the last one walked out the door, Mike strode up to him, the others trailing behind. The man was putting his sword away. It was a practice blade, with a dull edge and blunted point for safety, but he was setting it back in its place with the respect most would give only to a true, deadly weapon.
"Duncan, these folks would like to talk to you."
Duncan smiled and Giles hardly noticed Buffy's mouth quirking in admiration or Willow's small sigh of longing, as he was quite sure his knees were melting and he wondered how he was managing to stand.
"I saw them come in. I'm Duncan MacLeod," he introduced himself and a very faint Scottish accent could be detected in his words, at least by Giles, whose British accent was admittedly not faint. "What can I do for you, ladies, gentlemen?"
Giles wasn't sure he could get even a recognizable word out of his mouth but luckily he didn't have to quite yet. Mike took over, explaining the situation. Duncan listened quietly, giving Buffy an appraising glance that somehow Giles knew told him more about her abilities than Mike's similar, earlier appraisal had. Finally, Duncan agreed and they all moved to the small office area, which turned out to be equipped with a small desk and computer, to work out the details.
The schedule was fairly easy. They settled for twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays, at seven in the evening. That allowed Duncan to be done with his other job, which turned out to be bartending. On those days he happened to work afternoons. It also allowed for Buffy's extracurricular activities, which usually didn't start until nine at night or later. These were two times when the dojo was not already in use, which suited the Slayer just fine. No sense in others seeing what she could do. Duncan didn't charge much. In fact, the hourly fee for using the dojo space was higher. Buffy's mother would certainly be able to afford this. They decided that Duncan, instead of Mike, would test her abilities and he would do so at her first lesson, which would be the next night, a Thursday.
The Slayer and her friends walked out satisfied and talking about whether or not Xander and Willow would go to watch Buffy train. Well, Xander wanted to watch Buffy and Willow wanted to watch Duncan, though both said that they just enjoyed seeing her skills on display without the added danger of a vampire attack. Giles walked slightly behind the teenagers, his mind still in the dojo, on a pair of brown eyes that had seemed to him to sparkle with an inner light and knowledge.
