Master and Student <Earth Kingdom>

[gengoro]

It has been almost four hours since they left the mighty walls of Ba Seng Sei. With no civilization in sight, Gengoro believed this would be a great trip to wherever they need to go. WRONG! After only two hours out, a pair of bandits had to ambush them and have them “pay a toll for the road”. Fortunately, they didn’t last long as Gengoro made quick work of them. As for Tseng Wei, all he did was confuse them as Gengoro cut them down. Also with the fortunes on their side, the two bandits had a pair of ostrich-horses with them. Since the bandits won’t be needing their rides anymore, Gengoro happily took them off their cold dead fingers and trotted along the road.

The sun forever relentless with its beams of light made the ride seem longer than it should. Gengoro took a swig of his water jug and offered some to Tseng, but refused politely.

“Have you still figured out that ‘mystic’ woman we meet back at Ba Seng Sei yet?” Gengoro asked.

“She is a powerful woman for sure,” Tseng exclaimed, “Other than that, not much is sure about her.”

Gengoro while he was riding noticed a fair amount of dust up ahead of him. Besides the desert he recalled, the Earth Kingdom wasn’t known for their dust storms. Gengoro and Tseng went to get a closer look at what was going on.

After about ten minutes of galloping, they got off their ostrich-horses and crept up at the cliff edge. Gengoro crawled on his belly and looked down only to see what he feared. Legion upon legion of Fire Nation armies camped, ready to strike at Ba Seng Sei at a moments notice. He also noticed some captives of Earth Kingdom soldiers around, some wearing very heavy and bulky looking armor. Rolling on his back then backing away, Gengoro shimmied to get out of sight.

“Well, a rescue attempt is pointless,” Gengoro spat, “Damn Fire Nation are everywhere. Blending in is out of the question, they KNOW who I am, a wanted man.”

“So what do you think we should do?” Tseng asked.

“Simple. If I am to train you, it’s going to be further away from this place.”

“Dooly noted.”

[tsengwei]

The smoke from the Fire Nation engines spewed into the atmosphere as Tseng and Gengoro made their get-away. They knew that if they stuck around long enough, they would eventually get caught. At this point, they don’t to take any chances.

They had to backtrack a little and turned off the road that lead into a forest nearby. The forest was a perfect place for training. It even had a waterfall nearby that would sooth the soul. The trees were large enough to hit without breaking and there were plenty of bamboo around.

“Alright then,” Gengoro said as he tied the ostrich-horse to a nearby tree, “Before our training, we need to set up camp. Here is a good spot to be.”

It took them close to two hours to set up camp with the limited tents among other things, but they set up a good area to be.

“There, and we are close enough to the city in case we need supplies,” Tseng grinned, “Where shall we start?”

“First lesson I guess will be to work on your stance,” Gengoro explained, “Your martial arts will not be good enough if you do not know how to keep proper form. We shall start with the horse stance. Bend your knees as if you were squatting.”

Together, they were able to get into a proper horse stance. Tseng seemed a bit off balance at first, but got the hang of things.

“Now have you had some training in the Fire Nation style of martial arts?” Gengoro asked.

“Somewhat when I was a medicine man with a group of shamans,” Tseng answered.

“Well, that will be the style I will teach you, so you might be familiar with some of these methods and exercises. Keep in the horse stance until your legs collapse, then do it again.”

[gengoro]

Even for the beginning lessons, the training was more strenuous than Tseng Wei anticipated. In order for him to master even a fraction of the martial arts, he must start at the basics. For a few hours, his horse stance got his legs tired. At the end of the second hour, his legs started to bow inward. Keeping his balance while doing so.

Gengoro got back from the wood while collecting dead branches to make a bonfire out of. He went back to camp to see Tseng struggling to keep his legs in the right position.

“Alright Tseng, take fifteen,” Gengoro said as he put the fire wood down onto the ground. Tseng nearly collapsed onto the ground as he grabbed his calves. They were aching from the horse stance exercise.

“Is it suppose to hurt this much?” Tseng asked Gengoro.

“Only for the first couple of times during the week. It will get better after you mastered correct stance.”

Gengoro bunched the dead brances together inside circle of rocks. Using some dead leaves around the brances, he used two rocks and clashed them together to make sparks. Some sparks fell onto the leaves and started to burn. Using his jingasa, he put some water in as well as a few scoops of rice to make a few bowls for lunch.

“Don’t forget to eat,” Gengoro said, “You will need the energy to continue training. We must get the most out of it, or our efforts are for nothing.”

“I understand,” Tseng said as he watched the water start to boil.

[gengoro]

Tseng practiced on. After learning the few basics he picked up from Gengoro, his progress got better. Gengoro was actually quite amazed on how quick he picked up on his training.

For days the training went on. Tseng Wei learned the basics of strikes, using his fists and kicks to his advantage. He learned how to defend himself with blocks and evasion moves. He used the environment to his advantage and to his opponent’s disadvantage. He was learning quite well, but not enough to master the true meaning of the martial arts.

“There is no hard style, there is no soft style. Martial arts is one with itself. Martial arts is like water. It can take any shape or size it wants. It is formless, but can be anything it wants. It is soft, but can destroy mountains. Martial arts doesn’t discriminate. It belongs to no nation, for it is everything and everyone.”[/u]

Gengoro continued to think about the past when the smoke from a long distance started to move. As Tseng was training, Gengoro went to scout ahead. It turned out that the Fire Nation were now advancing toward Ba Seng Sei. Worried a little about what is going on, he went back to the camp.

“Tseng, we must go,” Gengoro warned.
“Why are we going?” Tseng asked. Gengoro replied with a smile.
“We are going to test out my teaching. We are going to start trouble.”