Puss was waiting as his cadets filed onto the training field. His hands were locked behind his back and his tail swayed slowly from side to side. Shrewd yellow eyes peered at the men lining up before him.
Jim glanced over his shoulder back towards the Rs. Braxton straightened up, now about a foot and a half taller than usual. Jim snickered and turned his face back towards the front.
Behind Braxton came a low growl. Stalkinew swished his tail and drew up his lip to expose his canines. Braxton glanced over his shoulder and looked down before flashing a bright smile. The leopard that had once towered over him now was the one looking up.
Unashamed to lord his extra three inches over his classmate, Braxton put on his most innocent voice. "Sorry, is something wrong, shorty?"
"I'll show you 'shorty'!"
"Is there something wrong with being short?" Puss demanded as he strolled through the ranks of cadets. He came to a halt directly between the two boys. Today he was clad in his usual boots and belt, but he had in addition a cloak that flowed from his shoulders and a feathered hat. It might have been intimidating if he had been taller than their knees.
Braxton flashed his signature smile. "Of course not, sir. Stalkinew is the one taking offense to being short."
Stalkinew growled low in his throat and plastered his ears against his head. He hissed, his claws flexing. "I would have no reason to be offended if you did not intentionally raise yourself to be higher than me."
Puss studied the cyborg before him. "You do appear taller than I remember," he agreed after a moment. He looked pointedly at the exposed metal shafts that stuck out of Braxton's boots. "And your pants are no longer by your ankles. Regulation does specify you are meant to wear pants, not knickers."
Stalkinew gave Braxton a smug smile. The one Braxton returned to him was just as smug. "I'll remember for next time, sir. But I'm afraid I have no other pants. I'll take these off if you insist, but I think being in your boxers is also not regulation acceptable."
Jim tried to smother his snickering under his hand. He flicked his eyes down the row, searching for Matt. Matthew glanced back at him, his own grin barely suppressed. Matt raised his arms with his hands open, fingers flat and pressed together. He crossed them about neck high. Once, twice. Jim might not have learned too many of the hand signals his friend used, but he knew that one.
Trouble.
Jim brought his hand up in a fist, nodding it twice. Swiftly he formed Braxton's name sign - a fist and the letter B crossing at chest height twice - then brought a flattened hand up until his fingertips touched his chin. With a forward motion he rotated his palm down to touch the fingers on his left hand at chest height, palm to palm.
Yes. Braxton's bad.
Matt snickered softly. He pointed at Braxton and swam his right hand across his left twice before pointing to Braxton again. Matt's fingers flashed through a quick series of letters before he transitioned swiftly into his hands moving one past the other, palms flat towards the ground. Finally he pointed to the front of the group.
Braxton alright Braxton. walk there.
Braxton will be alright. Mr. Boots is walking to the front of the class.
Jim barely translated for himself in time to turn back into attention.
If Puss had noticed his students' distractions, he made no indication of such. Instead he focused on his energy upon bringing the attention back to class. "Today! We shall finally introduce…" He trailed off in a low voice as he turned partially away from the class.
With a flourish, Puss produced a gleaming blade from somewhere within his cloak. "Los throwing knives!"
The group broke out with low murmurs of excitement. Several youth shuffled their feet as they tried to get a better view of their instructor. Jim couldn't hide the grin that covered his face.
Puss gestured to the field behind him. Two large barriers divided the field into three sections. Each section had a dozen targets sized to the height class they were intended for. "In a moment, you shall have a chance to try. I do not wish for you to focus on your aim today, only technique! If you hit the figure on the target, that is fine. All that I care about is that you stick the knife anywhere on those blocks. Understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Excellent. First stance! Dominant foot slightly in front, as such. Now, we shall go over your grip! You shall hold the knife like so." The cat held up his paw, taking time to pace up and down before the rows of cadets. "Hold the blade carefully, watch that your thumb and fingers are not in the way. You do not wish to slice yourself. You shall throw as such," he demonstrated the move slowly, never once letting go of his blade, "so that it shall rotate one half time. That is all you must worry about for today. We shall add rotations once you have mastered this. Si?"
"Yes sir."
"I shall come and check your grip and stance before you throw for the first time. Each person shall throw five times. You will not move until I give permission to fetch your blades. While people are collecting the knives, no one is allowed to throw. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!"
"Bien! Let us go over this again. When are you allowed to collect your knives?" He glanced across the rows before pointing to a youth among the short statured section.
"After you give permission, sir," he answered in his surprisingly deep voice.
"Si! And when are you allowed to throw?" This time he pointed to Varian.
"Only when the field is clear of all individuals and you have given your say so."
"Bien. One more time then, together. Are you allowed to throw if there is anyone on the field?"
"No sir!"
"Are you allowed to collect your weapons if anyone is throwing?"
"No sir!"
"Bien."
AN: Hey friends! I don't usually copy past my notes from AO3, but unfortunately I'm pressed for time today, so that's what I'll be doing. Doesn't mean I love y'all any less though!
So I learned a lot to write this chapter! I put a ton of time and effort into trying to get the facts and descriptions right, but I'm obviously no expert. Do feel free to correct me if anything seems off! That goes for both the throwing knives as well as the ASL.
One of the things I found while researching, however, is that there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon method of how to write a signed language, even among the deaf and HOH community. Since I am taking this from the POV of someone still learning, I decided to go with a bit of a longer, more explainy method. That's why you see the signs, literal translation, and actual translation.
As Jim grows and develops, or if someone fluent becomes POV for a segment with signing, this may change.
As always, thank you so much for sticking with me this long! I love to hear from y'all, so a special thanks to everyone that's taken the time to leave me something. No worries, though, I adore just watching the hit count go up as well! Everyone one of you is awesome. 3
