111- Ancient Arts

Like in Kendo, in practice real swords were never used. The substitute weapons were swift, light and as rigid as a laser sword. Lotor was carrying two of these when Rose and Keith saw him come out of the castle. He was wearing the traditional costume as well, and it also resembled a Kendo outfit, minus the protection. To keep his hair out of his way, he had braided it. The black costume made him look every inch the villain.

A laser sword had all its weight in the hilt, so the handling of it was very different. And since it could cut through metal, you had to be very conscious at any given moment of the arcs you described with it, and of your environment. While it would slice right through a tree behind you without altering its course or its speed, the tree could fall on your head... This was why the master had chosen a practice ground in the forest.

Lotor felt a little self conscious as he walked towards them. He hadn't expected to meet anyone at this early, pink hour.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Rose as he passed by them. "You look awesome! A lean mean killing machine..."

"Don't say things like that, little flower," the ex-prince protested mildly. "I swore I'd behave. Besides these are harmless."

"They look real sharp to me," said Keith as he eyed the long dark blades.

Lotor handed him one of them.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed as he passed a finger on the blade. "They're not so harmless..."

"They're quite brittle. If they encounter anything except another similar blade they'll break. As for the cutting edge, it's to keep my wits sharp... That way, even with practice swords, you're very careful what your blades comes across."

"Can I see?" Asked Rose with her best puppy eyes.

"Watch me make a fool of myself, you mean? No way, flower. Its bad enough the commander will. It's been years and I barely remember anything. It'll take more then one practice to drive the Drule Academy out of my system."

"But you were good, you said."

"I was a kid! When I was presented to father I was ten, and all my Khiara training was driven out." Lotor eyes took a faraway look. "My old instructor was very hard to please... I would practice like a madman to get his approval. Most of the times he would either say nothing or he would correct me. No move was ever perfect, which is the way it should be. I resent him," he continued, pointing Keith, "seeing my new Master berate me."

"I'll love to see that," Keith quipped. "I've researched Khiara and it intrigues me. Fighting with two swords like that..."

"You mean you never tried? Its fantastic. That is when you begin to master it. But it does takes a few years of stepping on your pride, and that's hard for someone with as big an ego as I. I'm out of shape and I'll probably have to go through that torture again. It'll be hard enough, having an audience... "

"Don't worry, I'll appreciate it," said Keith with a mild smirk. "And don't tell me I got Rose out of bed so early for no reason. I'm really curious and I swear I'll try not to laugh. Besides, as commander its my duty to know just how dangerous you are."

"Pleeeaase, let me come," pleaded Rose, taking hold of his sleeve and giving him a good dose of her undescribably cute eyes.

The prince sighed. The Commander was in charge of him. In theory, he could order him to do whatever he wished. He was asking politely, but it might as well have been an order.

"It's your planet. But I warn you. The moves are quite repetitive and boring."

With that, Lotor went to his first practice. He heard the two insufferable snoops following him. He was resentful, no, make that angry, but he'd promised his mother...

He remembered his training and tried to calm himself. Be conscious of what surrounds you, the master had said, and use it. But don't let it cloud your mind. Your mind is a silent lake. Yeah, right, he thought. But he gave it a real try. He concentrated on the forest, something that always soothed him. He hadn't done that since he was a child. He called it opening your mind to the green then. To his surprise he quickly became quite calm, exactly as he did in the past, feeling one with his surroundings. When he met his new master, his mind was a silent lake. Kovak was very old, but then, all Khiara masters seemed ancient. He was a thin and wiry drule with very dark blue skin, large pointed ears and golden eyes. With his long nose, he looked rather like an elongated fox bat. He seemed very fragile, but Lotor knew he could probably slice anyone of them in ribbons in moments. He saluted.

"Welcome, master Lotor."

He presented his two swords in the opening position.

"Let's first see what you got..."

And he charged. Lotor was surprised at how automatic was his response. He was a talented swordsman, the best the drule academy had turned out, but that was mostly because of his Khiara training. After having handled two swords for years, fighting with only one had seemed ridiculously easy at the time. He had feared that this lack would have left a large gap in his training. But the body remembered. What was left of it anyway. He couldn't control the false arm with that much finesse. He forced himself to stay calm and actually managed to hold a good two minutes before Kovak disarmed him with a truly dizzying speed. Both his practice swords fell in the grass, and Lotor was utterly exhausted. He sank on his knees, gasping. He had known this would happen of course... the masters were wizards with the things.

"Now that this is settled, we will go through the sequence one. Do you remember it?"

"I don't think I remember any of the sequences, master."

« Then you will relearn. »

Lotor had completely forgotten his audience by now. With his master, he immersed himself in the half remembered sword dance, a sequence of moves not unlike the kata in karate. Keith was watching in utter fascination. Rose had known he'd love it, for Keith was a swordsman too, and he had never seen a real Khiara master. She liked the way his jaw had dropped when the fight had begun. The speed was amazing, and the moves had a deadly elegance. She murmured :

"The master didn't fight at his max, you know..."

"You know Khiara quite well, it seems."

"I should... I'm learning it. Kovak is just too cool. And he won't pressure you or anything, he's very kind. It would be such fun, Keith, if you took training too!"

"What? And having Lotor, who his way ahead of me, laugh at me?"

"Ow, come on. You're awful good with a blade and you would take to this in no time. They say Khiara will be a lost art if there are no new adepts. That'd be a shame. There's only a few masters left, and they are all very old."

"So that's why you insisted coming, my little intrigue weaver."

"Sure...Look at you," she said impishly. "You're all starry eyed."

"We almost never use swords anymore, you know," Keith argued. "Keen piloting skills are more useful. My training time is best used in a spaceship."

"Ow, get real, Keith. You are a perfect pilot. Your training in the lions is just overkill. It bores Lance to tears!"

"You and Lance spend WAY too much time together."

"Think of it, at least..."

They were talking low, not wanting to disturb the fascinating duet. Kovak and Lotor matched each other move for move with the black blades swirling around them. It seemed impossible, but even if they worked close to each other, their blades never touched. Kovak was this close on purpose. He wanted to see if his student was conscious of space. It was an unexpected pleasure for him. This young man had an astounding potential, and he was already well trained. As for the reflexes...

Without warning Kovak turned on Lotor again. And again, he responded without thinking. Of course Kovak beat him in no time, but the reaction had been very swift! Kovak was quite pleased.

"Well," he said indifferently. "There is work to do young one. You're out of shape. And we'll have to practice with that fake right arm. I can see it's unnatural to you. Be here tomorrow."

Lotor came out of his strange trance and saluted, not phased by the lack of praise. The masters almost never gave any. He felt like falling on the spot and sleeping for the rest of the day, and he hurt everywhere. He didn't regret having lost his bodybuilder muscles, though. Khiara was an art requiring finesse and speed, not strength. But he was thin and wasted, and he felt terrible after this bout of intense exercise. Kovak left and Lotor sat down rather abruptly in the grass. Rose came running.

"That was truly awesome, Lotor. I'm learning Khiara too, you know, so I can tell..."

"I'm beat. I don't even think I can make it back to the castle," Lotor answered, panting. I'm surprised I even remembered all this.

Rose had a bag and got out a bottle of water. She handed it to him and he gratefully drank all of it.

"That's one thing you didn't remember... bring water. We could practice together sometimes, that is if you want to..."

Those eyes again. Lotor sighed. They were such a formidable weapon.

Keith, for some unknown reason, seemed very perplex, even embarrassed. Lotor smiled for he suspected little flower here had pushed him into a corner. He said so.

"You're right," Keith admitted. "That girl is a public danger, I say. It doesn't show, on the surface all you see is the angel. And underneath is the dictator-for-life of the galaxy."

"So," said Lotor with a smirk, "what are you going to do about it?"

Keith looked at Rose in mock fright.

"I don't know about you, but I try to do exactly as Her Majesty commands. It's more trouble to avoid her wishes then to accommodate them. She's even worse then Nanny, who at least is not cute. But if I do give in to her, you'll have to swear you won't laugh. I didn't..."

"Laugh? At what?"

"Just swear it."

"I'm talking him into learning Khiara," said Rose with a smirk mirroring Lotor's.

The ex-prince laughed. Keith grabbed some wet moss and threw it at him.

"All right. I'll swear as you did. I promise I'll try not to laugh."

Keith scowled and left, leaving the two giggling accomplices with exaggerated dignity. In truth he was curious about Khiara, but it was an old and dead art, not considered very useful in this age of giant robots and mechanical armies. Besides, it was so enmeshed in the drule culture. Oh, what the heck, he thought. It doesn't cost much to give it a try. But if those two snicker, he thought, I'll kick the his blue butt and tickle the little Rose till she can't move.

As if on cue, he met master Kovak, who appeared to be waiting for him at the side of the path.

"Well, commander, will we see you tomorrow?"

Keith was aghast.

"Don't tell me you were in this plot as well?"

"Actually it was my idea. You're a very good swordsman."

"I don't think so." Keith hesitated. The drule looked so hopeful! He explained. "It's the pilot's practice time. This has priority."

"I'm sure we can work a different schedule, young human. It would be an honour for me to teach two talented students, it is a rare treat for a master."

"You told Frosty there that he had a lot of work to do, and I thought he was amazing. Don't tell him I said that, though. Besides he would just laugh at me, I never handled two swords."

"He would not... He knows I would not tolerate it. Khiara students are supposed to control their response, and we do not mock each other. As for my telling him he needs to work, well it's true... Don't expect praise too often from a Khiara master."

The fox faced master smiled kindly. It was very strange for Keith to see such an expression on a drule face.

"Anyway, it's your decision," Kovak said. "I'll be here tomorrow, same place, say two hours later. How about accompanying an old drule back home?"

"Sure..."

And they started down the path side by side. The commander could see where Rose had acquired her manipulative skills... The wily old master tried to seduce him into the art all the way to the village. They passed colourful streets and flowered alleys. Then they arrived in a quarter that was visibly mid-class. Even farther, they passed a door that isolated a part of the village. Inside were all the drule refugees. Keith had known that they had a kind of ghetto like this, but he was seeing it for the first time. The drules lived in barracks. The buildings were well maintained and looked comfortable, but they had a distinct lack of personality. They were uniform and drab, and everything was functional with no frills or fantasy. Keith was surprised to see many dogs around. Dozens of small gardens dotted the place. The drule refugees paused in their gardening and looked at him as if he'd sprouted wings. He guessed that not many humans came to visit. They didn't appear hostile, though. They looked frightened. They obviously feared him. Kovak stopped in front of a barrack.

"There we are, Commander. Home, sweet home, like you humans say..."

It didn't look like a home to Keith. A sleeping place maybe. He remembered having read on the net that many had protested against giving the refugees anything at all. He sighed.

"Ok, master Kovak, I will give it one try. Its good exercise. If I approve we'll try to work it in the training agenda. Not to become experts, mind you, but for the workout. I guess I could have said that sooner, you just wasted a good hour of propaganda..."

"Not propaganda, Commander," the master said gently. "Call it gentle publicity. We drules have had our fill of propaganda with Zarcon. See where it brought us? The madman actually thought he would rule the entire galaxy, and most of us were naive enough to buy his brainwashing discourse. I would not force you into anything, it would equate me to that creature. Those who choose to stay have had it with dictators."

"I guess you have." Keith smiled. "Besides, I am intrigued by Khiara. I make no promises, but we'll be there if I can manage to work it out... Good day, Master."

"See you tomorrow, Commander."

Kovak gave a complicated salute. Keith hurried back at the castle. Rose was waiting for him at the north gate with expectant eyes.

"You got me into this, you insufferable little shrew," he accused.

"Hurray! I knew you'd come!"

"Only to train, though. Is there any time at all when you don't get your way? I think you're long overdue. How's 'Ma', anyway? We hardly ever see her anymore." 'Not that it isn't a good thing,' thought the commander.

"She not well these days, answered Rose. She's depressed. I even accepted to wear pink to cheer her up... And that's a major sacrifice. I loathe pink. I think maybe she's colour blind and sees baby pink as a beautiful colour."

"She used to drive us crazy with her demands."

"Well, she's restricted her dictatorship to the servants. But she's not really that bad, you know. Mostly they do as you did, they ignore her. She is very kind to me. She sort of gave up on me and lets me dress as I want with just a glower. Doctor Hausmann says she should retire, her heart is fatigued and its risky for her to get into her fits. But she'll never do that. She gets bored if she sits for more then half a minute without lecturing someone. I'm trying to talk her into writing a book on proper etiquette. That way she could lecture on paper. She certainly is an expert."

"No one can dispute her that..."

"She says if she does write that book she'll title it All The Things I Tried To Teach Rose."

Keith laughed and they continued to chat amiably as they entered the castle complex.

As for Lotor, he was still in the glade, trying to work some energy back in his muscles, but mostly he appreciated the calm effect green nature had on him. Well. He definitely could do without the insects here. But some of them were really fascinating. They looked like ultra-perfectionned, tiny machines built for a specific purpose. He started to daydream again about his younger days, when he began designing robeasts. How the drule engineers, all loyal to Zarcon to the point of folly, had laughed at some of his ideas. He hadn't felt humiliated then : he took their rejection as a compliment, the fools being such incompetents. He supplied them instead with what they wanted : monstrous, big designs, truly inefficient machines. But they looked real impressive. It kept those idiots happy.

He then remembered the pleasure he had building his delicate butterflies. He was not stupid enough to think his enemies would let him work on real machines, but how could they refuse him paper? Having found new purpose he made his way back to the castle and asked the first servant he saw to find him a bunch of large sheets. The human looked blank. Lotor tried again : large sheets of paper.

"...Paper, sir?" Asked the frightened servant, a lad of about fifteen.

"Well, they won't let me have a computer. It would help me pass the time. Walking through this castle all day bores me and it irritates me when your kind jumps out of my way. I do not eat humans as a pastime. Actually, I draw."

"You do?" Said the boy, a little surprised at this detail about the prince.

"Mechanical design," the drule explained.

"Oh," said the lad, looking a little disappointed. "Well, I'll see what I can find."

"Thank you."

"Er... You're welcome, Sir."

And he fled. As previously ordered he went directly to the Commander and told him about the request.

"I don't see any harm in that. It will occupy his time. Have him equipped with everything he'll need. Go to Hunk, he'll help you to find the stuff, he knows all about it since he draws his things by hand too sometimes. In this ancient place they must have a drawing table somewhere..."

"Drawing table? You mean tablet."

"No. In the old day drawings, even industrial design, was done by hand on those things."

The lad went to Hunk, who happened to have an entire collection of those antiques. It filled an huge room near the top of the castle and resembled nothing less as a Museum on the Art of Building Machines after a tornado. The explorer was quite enthusiastic about the junk and quite prepared to describe each item, but he saw the boy's eyes and just showed him what to take.

When Lotor saw all that he couldn't believe it. Where in the quadrant had they found such treasures! He smiled in pure delight. The same lad was there and he dutifully said :

"Those belong to master Hunk. I'm told to inform you that... er," the boy backed a step, "if you damage them he'll replug you wired all wrong and you'll end up with your arm..."

"...Well?"

"It was gross, sir. I'd really rather not tell..."

Lotor smiled evilly.

"Don't worry, human, if its so bad you won't say, I can figure it out."

The frightening drule smiled again, more softly this time. For a moment there, he almost looked amiable. Still, when the servants were finished they fled as Lotor surveyed the new items in his tiny realm, as if they were afraid he'd find something he didn't like...

The ex-prince immediately went to work, finding great pleasure at doing this with his hands, and marvelling how the artificial one was keeping up.

That hand was extraordinary, and its range of movement elevated Lotor's respect for Hunk a hundred notch. He had always counted the yellow lion pilot as a negligible quantity, but now he knew he'd been wrong. He had known since the twitching arm incident. The man was truly brilliant, but too modest or timid. He was also blessed with selfless kindness, he hadn't had any obligation to do this for their prisoner.

But such musings were unfamiliar to the ex-prince, and he was soon immersed in his designs. He worked late into the night, putting on papers ideas he had let take the dust for years and years. It gave him a keen pleasure, and he fell asleep on the ancient table, amidst drawings of fantastic mechanical insects. The top sheet of yellowed paper depicted one of them delicately perched on the hand of his love.

***** ***** *****

Author note :

That chapter was one I could save from the crash, but I have to re-write the next and Real Life is quite well packed this week. I'll try to finish the next chapter though, because that one was fun to write the first time around, I'll probably enjoy it this time as well.

Update : found a way to check my grammar, yeah! Sorry to those who read the 2 last chapters with all the mistakes, irk, It was terrible. Apologies!