L'dael was in a sullen mood as he stalked through the hallways of the Dojo.
Three days had passed since the op during the Cicero Crisis, and after sleeping for one of them - courtesy of a sedi spray that Val gave him as he lay in bed unconscious shortly after arriving back at the Dojo - he was getting impatient.
The Lotus was taking her time decompiling the files she had retrieved from the data archive, an unusually long time for a lady who could gain access to information about secure facilities and their schematics in a matter of hours. It quickly grew too much for L'dael who had been trying to wait patiently in the comforting half light of his room. So for the last few hours he had taken to walking around the Dojo in an attempt to subdue the restlessness in his body, only to find his thoughts clouded by the faces of the friends that Tias had robbed him of. By no means was she responsible for the deaths of all one hundred and thirty one of his friends, but every one of them was looking from inside of him, willing him to lay the first of few of their kind to rest. All of a sudden L'dael heard the voice of his late master, from a memory long ago, before L'dael earned his name.
"Patience child, remember: A hasty strike is often the last you are likely to make." It had been a cold, icy day. One of the last that his clan spent planetside before the fall of the Orokin and the first day his talent had made itself apparent.
Even the memory sent a shiver down his spine. He had already spent several hours hammering the dummy bot in the middle of the snow covered courtyard in little more than a baggy pair of shorts, and after beating every difficulty setting, he was now struggling through uncharted territory. This was when Master Vardas began to observe him from afar, watching silently as he rained a lightning storm of blows down on the dummy with the practice skana only to have them blocked with equal speed before being thrown across the courtyard, skidding through the now compacted snow on his back. On went Vardas's observation; attack, countered, thrown, attack, countered, thrown. While Vardas would later admit that he was impressed by both the boys skill and speed of recovery, he grew tired of the child's repeated failure to adapt. With a sigh, Vardas walked over to where the boy lay face down in the snow after he had been sent flying by the dummy once again.
"You are aware that what you're doing will never work, are you not?" He asked. With a yelp of surprise, the boy scrambled to his knees and bowed his head.
"M-master! I didn't realise you had been watching, if I had, I wou-" The boy stammered out before being cut off by a burst of laughter from the ranking tenno.
"Do not worry little one, it is my duty both as master and tenno to help my family." Vardas said as he held a hand out for the boy to take. "Now, can you tell me what you think you're doing wrong?" He asked as the boy picked himself up off the floor.
"W-well, I don't think i'm-" was as far as he got before Vardas cut him off again.
"Wrong!" He barked. "Rule one of training: If you aren't progressing, no matter how difficult the adversary, you are doing something wrong."
Startled by this, the boy went silent for a long time as he thought about every step he took and wondered where he was going wrong. Sensing that it would be faster to teach him than have him figure it out by himself, Vardas took the practice skana from the boy and advanced on the dummy. The dummy activated when he was within it's attack radius and quickly began its attack. Vardas blocked them with ease for four seconds before time seemed to slow for him. He ducked the swipe the dummy was making at chest height and sliced upwards, lifting the dummy into the air and flipping before it slammed into the ground. Walking to the boy, he handed the skana back to him.
"Tell me what you saw."
"...you blocked...and then the dummy was airborne..." The boy couldn't quite seem to be able to process what he had seen. With a smile at the memory of the time his own master had left him in a familiar position, Vardas began his explanation.
"What you were doing before didn't give you any chance to think. You charged in head first, planning to strike the enemy before they had a chance to react." The Dummy had now righted itself and returned to the ready position in the middle of the courtyard. "While that may work against an unaware or unskilled adversary, an enemy who is ready for you and has some air of skill about them will defend from it with ease. Think about your attack; wait for an opening and strike through it."
"Now." Vardas placed his hand on the boys back and propelling him toward the dummy. "Try it once more."
Unsure quite how to pull it off, the boy entered the dummies attack radius and began to take a fusilade of blows. He lasted three long seconds before his attempt earned him a backhanded strike that sent him backward once more.
"Patience child, remember: A hasty strike is often the last you are likely to make." Vardas called over.
Turning from his master to his foe and back, the boy faced the dummy once more and took a deep breath. Skana held in both hands, he dashed within the dummies attack radius again, drawing a sigh from his masters lips. This kid just doesn't- was what Vardas thought before he ground to a halt. The boy moved in a blur, blocking less than his master and dodging more than a few of the lightning strikes. The Dummy attacked with an overhead slash which presented the opportunity. The boy dashed left before spinning into the air, striking the Dummy in the side of the head with the skana and sending it tumbling over.
It was Vardas's turn to be shocked. He never expected the boy to pick it up so fast. Recovering from the shock, Vardas closed his eyes and smiled. He heard the boy approach him.
"Was that better master?" The boy asked with an all too real innocence.
Vardas placed a hand on the boys head and ruffled it.
"My boy." He said with a chuckle. "You are going to be an exemplary Tenno."