Author's Note: Two reviews? Oh well, I'll continue anyway. I never start
something without finishing it.
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One
Story Title: Gerald Learns to Fence
Chapter Title: Instructor Phoebe
It was early morning of the next day. Phoebe had just woken up, bathed, and changed. She was in the middle of her breakfast when the phone rang. Her father stood to answer it.
A moment later, Kyo called out to Phoebe. "Phoebe, it's for you. It's Helga."
"Coming." Phoebe said. She stood up and went toward the phone.
"Thank you, Father." She said, taking the phone from Kyo. "Hello?"
"Heya, Pheebs." Greeted Helga's voice. "Watcha doing?"
"I was in the middle of my breakfast."
"Uh-huh, anyway, you wanna go and throw rocks at a dumpster or something?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Helga. I can't. Gerald's coming over this afternoon and—"
"Ah. . ." Helga interrupted with a knowing tone. "I see."
Phoebe, hearing Helga's tone, answered quickly and tried to do so in a casual tone. "It's not like that, Helga. Gerald asked for my help since Rex Smyhte-Higgins challenged him to a fencing match. I'm merely teaching him what I know later today, and also after school for the following week."
"So, you're telling me that Geraldo's not only coming over to your house today but also for the rest of next week." Helga said. "Interesting. . . "
Phoebe blushed. "It's nothing like that! There's nothing romantic about it—"
"Hey," Helga said. "I didn't use the word 'romantic', Pheebs. You did."
"Oh, um, well judging from your tone that was what you were suggesting." Phoebe quickly added.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Helga said. "Just stick to fencing lessons, not other 'lessons'. Okay, Pheebs?"
"Helga!" Phoebe said, blushing at Helga's implication. Helga just laughed and put down the phone.
Phoebe shook her head. 'It's not a big deal.' She thought. 'I'm just teaching Gerald how to fence, that's all.'
LATER
Gerald shook off his nervousness as he pressed the Heyerdahl's doorbell. His nervousness just came back, though, when the door opened. It was Phoebe who greeted him.
"Uh, hey, Phoebe. I'm here for the , you know, fencing practice." He said nervously. 'Why am I nervous?' he thought. He was Gerald Johanssen, he was supposed to be cool and smooth around girls.
"Oh, Gerald. Please, step inside." Phoebe said, trying to answer casually with some success. "Let us proceed to the fencing room, shall we?"
"Lead the way." Gerald said. He looked at Phoebe, her Oriental face was still as pretty as ever, although the fencing outfit did ruin her developing figure. . .
'Stop it, man!' he mentally scolded himself. 'You're TEN years old. You're not supposed to be a slave to your hormones 'til you're twelve or thirteen or something.'
Phoebe stopped in front of a wall. Phoebe pushed the "wall" open and revealed the fencing room. (AN: In case you didn't pay attention to the "Phoebe Cheats" episode, the Heyerdahl's fencing room door was made to look like a wall) She stepped inside and Gerald followed her.
"Here." Phoebe said as she picked up some gear and handed these to Gerald. "Please, put these on."
Gerald took the gear and looked them over. It was a grilled helmet and a padded torso vest.
"Looks like the kind of stuff an umpire wears." Commented Gerald as he put them on.
"Well," Phoebe said when Gerald had put the gear on. "Let us begin. First, a brief orientation on the different subtypes of fencing."
She passed two swords to Gerald. "What you have there are the saber and foil. The saber is the one with the shorter blade."
Gerald looked down and compared the swords. He hadn't noticed at first but now he saw that one sword was about an inch shorter that the other.
"These two sword types are used in the more rigid forms of fencing. The target area for the saber is the body above the hips, while the target area for the foil is only the upper torso, excluding the head and arms." Phoebe explained. "Each saber or foil bout lasts for six minutes and you score by striking the target area with the tip of the sword. Five touches on the target area wins the game."
"That doesn't sound too hard." Gerald said.
"There's more than that." Phoebe added. "There's also the right-of -way rule. That means only the player on offense can score, any touches by the player on defense doesn't count."
"Geez." Gerald said, shaking his head. "That's a lot of formality for a sport where you poke each other with blunt metal sticks."
Phoebe raised an eyebrow at the comment and continued: "Well, there is one more form that isn't as rigid as the other two."
"The epee bout, right?" replied Gerald. "At least that was what Rex called it."
Phoebe nodded. "Yes, epee bouts have no right-of-way rule and no specific target area, any part of the body counts. It does, however, still have a six-minute time limit and you still need to hit with the tip of the sword. Also, it still requires only five good hits to win."
"Okay." Gerald nodded. "I can work with that."
"Well, let us begin." Phoebe said. "I only have less than a week to train you."
"I'm not worried." Gerald said. "I have a pretty teacher."
This time, a slight blush appeared on Phoebe's cheeks. Realizing what he had just said, Gerald blurted out: "Uh, I mean, um, pretty GOOD teacher. Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, okay." Phoebe said, trying not to sound disappointed. For a moment she thought that. . . Oh well, what did she expect? Gerald probably just liked her, not liked-liked her.
"Here," Phoebe said, handing Gerald a sword that was as long as the foil but had a more rigid blade. "This is an epee."
Gerald took the sword and started swishing it slightly from left to right. To him, it looked just like the other two swords. Phoebe put on a helmet and took on a stance. "This is the 'on guard' stance. You take on this stance just before or as the bout starts."
"Uh-huh." Gerald said, mimicking her stance.
"Good." Phoebe said. "Now I shall demonstrate a lunge. This is usually the most common offensive move in fencing and a bout usually starts with one player lunging."
She demonstrated the move. Gerald tried to imitate her but he put too much weight and force in his lunge, causing him to topple over. Phoebe tried to suppress a giggle. "Don't try to put too much force or weight forward when lunging. It tends to send you off-balance and your opponent might take advantage of that."
"Uh, right." Gerald said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. The real reason why he had botched his lunge was because he had been paying more attention to the instructor that to her instructions. Gerald shook his head slightly. 'Concentrate, man. Stop drooling over Phoebe.'
"Okay, let's try that again." Phoebe said.
'Okay, Gerald, focus.' Gerald thought to himself. 'Impress her with how fast you can learn.'
With that he continued under the tutelage of Phoebe.
Author's Note" To anyone reading this fic, please review. Chapter 3 is coming soon.
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One
Story Title: Gerald Learns to Fence
Chapter Title: Instructor Phoebe
It was early morning of the next day. Phoebe had just woken up, bathed, and changed. She was in the middle of her breakfast when the phone rang. Her father stood to answer it.
A moment later, Kyo called out to Phoebe. "Phoebe, it's for you. It's Helga."
"Coming." Phoebe said. She stood up and went toward the phone.
"Thank you, Father." She said, taking the phone from Kyo. "Hello?"
"Heya, Pheebs." Greeted Helga's voice. "Watcha doing?"
"I was in the middle of my breakfast."
"Uh-huh, anyway, you wanna go and throw rocks at a dumpster or something?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Helga. I can't. Gerald's coming over this afternoon and—"
"Ah. . ." Helga interrupted with a knowing tone. "I see."
Phoebe, hearing Helga's tone, answered quickly and tried to do so in a casual tone. "It's not like that, Helga. Gerald asked for my help since Rex Smyhte-Higgins challenged him to a fencing match. I'm merely teaching him what I know later today, and also after school for the following week."
"So, you're telling me that Geraldo's not only coming over to your house today but also for the rest of next week." Helga said. "Interesting. . . "
Phoebe blushed. "It's nothing like that! There's nothing romantic about it—"
"Hey," Helga said. "I didn't use the word 'romantic', Pheebs. You did."
"Oh, um, well judging from your tone that was what you were suggesting." Phoebe quickly added.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Helga said. "Just stick to fencing lessons, not other 'lessons'. Okay, Pheebs?"
"Helga!" Phoebe said, blushing at Helga's implication. Helga just laughed and put down the phone.
Phoebe shook her head. 'It's not a big deal.' She thought. 'I'm just teaching Gerald how to fence, that's all.'
LATER
Gerald shook off his nervousness as he pressed the Heyerdahl's doorbell. His nervousness just came back, though, when the door opened. It was Phoebe who greeted him.
"Uh, hey, Phoebe. I'm here for the , you know, fencing practice." He said nervously. 'Why am I nervous?' he thought. He was Gerald Johanssen, he was supposed to be cool and smooth around girls.
"Oh, Gerald. Please, step inside." Phoebe said, trying to answer casually with some success. "Let us proceed to the fencing room, shall we?"
"Lead the way." Gerald said. He looked at Phoebe, her Oriental face was still as pretty as ever, although the fencing outfit did ruin her developing figure. . .
'Stop it, man!' he mentally scolded himself. 'You're TEN years old. You're not supposed to be a slave to your hormones 'til you're twelve or thirteen or something.'
Phoebe stopped in front of a wall. Phoebe pushed the "wall" open and revealed the fencing room. (AN: In case you didn't pay attention to the "Phoebe Cheats" episode, the Heyerdahl's fencing room door was made to look like a wall) She stepped inside and Gerald followed her.
"Here." Phoebe said as she picked up some gear and handed these to Gerald. "Please, put these on."
Gerald took the gear and looked them over. It was a grilled helmet and a padded torso vest.
"Looks like the kind of stuff an umpire wears." Commented Gerald as he put them on.
"Well," Phoebe said when Gerald had put the gear on. "Let us begin. First, a brief orientation on the different subtypes of fencing."
She passed two swords to Gerald. "What you have there are the saber and foil. The saber is the one with the shorter blade."
Gerald looked down and compared the swords. He hadn't noticed at first but now he saw that one sword was about an inch shorter that the other.
"These two sword types are used in the more rigid forms of fencing. The target area for the saber is the body above the hips, while the target area for the foil is only the upper torso, excluding the head and arms." Phoebe explained. "Each saber or foil bout lasts for six minutes and you score by striking the target area with the tip of the sword. Five touches on the target area wins the game."
"That doesn't sound too hard." Gerald said.
"There's more than that." Phoebe added. "There's also the right-of -way rule. That means only the player on offense can score, any touches by the player on defense doesn't count."
"Geez." Gerald said, shaking his head. "That's a lot of formality for a sport where you poke each other with blunt metal sticks."
Phoebe raised an eyebrow at the comment and continued: "Well, there is one more form that isn't as rigid as the other two."
"The epee bout, right?" replied Gerald. "At least that was what Rex called it."
Phoebe nodded. "Yes, epee bouts have no right-of-way rule and no specific target area, any part of the body counts. It does, however, still have a six-minute time limit and you still need to hit with the tip of the sword. Also, it still requires only five good hits to win."
"Okay." Gerald nodded. "I can work with that."
"Well, let us begin." Phoebe said. "I only have less than a week to train you."
"I'm not worried." Gerald said. "I have a pretty teacher."
This time, a slight blush appeared on Phoebe's cheeks. Realizing what he had just said, Gerald blurted out: "Uh, I mean, um, pretty GOOD teacher. Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, okay." Phoebe said, trying not to sound disappointed. For a moment she thought that. . . Oh well, what did she expect? Gerald probably just liked her, not liked-liked her.
"Here," Phoebe said, handing Gerald a sword that was as long as the foil but had a more rigid blade. "This is an epee."
Gerald took the sword and started swishing it slightly from left to right. To him, it looked just like the other two swords. Phoebe put on a helmet and took on a stance. "This is the 'on guard' stance. You take on this stance just before or as the bout starts."
"Uh-huh." Gerald said, mimicking her stance.
"Good." Phoebe said. "Now I shall demonstrate a lunge. This is usually the most common offensive move in fencing and a bout usually starts with one player lunging."
She demonstrated the move. Gerald tried to imitate her but he put too much weight and force in his lunge, causing him to topple over. Phoebe tried to suppress a giggle. "Don't try to put too much force or weight forward when lunging. It tends to send you off-balance and your opponent might take advantage of that."
"Uh, right." Gerald said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. The real reason why he had botched his lunge was because he had been paying more attention to the instructor that to her instructions. Gerald shook his head slightly. 'Concentrate, man. Stop drooling over Phoebe.'
"Okay, let's try that again." Phoebe said.
'Okay, Gerald, focus.' Gerald thought to himself. 'Impress her with how fast you can learn.'
With that he continued under the tutelage of Phoebe.
Author's Note" To anyone reading this fic, please review. Chapter 3 is coming soon.