Oasis Away from Perfection

Life is perfect here.

Javier Reuts stood in front of the colossal structure. Smooth stone stood as a symbol of power and prestige that the school afforded. The immaculate construction and clean walls, with perfect gardens and tranquil passages opened their metaphorical arms to Javier as he stood as an ant in contrast to the building, and he stared at the building.

It stood for everything he hated.

The perfectly clean stone, wooden porches, ethereal design, and imperial gardens only stood to show the invisible price tag had more zeros on them than most humanoids could count on two hands, assuming they only had two to count on. Javier's simple rapier hung from his belt in what he felt was symbolic of his thoughts. Everything he was is in clear view, never deluding with grandeur or coloring people's thoughts on him before he had the chance to speak. His clothes reflected this, simple cotton garments to protect both his modesty and his exposed flesh to the icy wind. The school stood in harsh contrast to him, and he had to enter.

He was greeted by a comfortably dressed servant and shown his quarters. He set his dusty leather pack against the wall and immediate set out to roam the halls. The rooms were littered with occupants. People ambled patiently down the hallway, apparently without schedule or haste. Several of the people held weapons somewhere on their person, with no attempt to conceal. Most had metal pummels attacked to their belts, in what seemed to be stun batons. Javier was familiar with it, but stuck with the more traditional metal blade.

Before he could finish his explorations of the campus, he was met by a young woman grinning from cat-ear to cat-ear. “Hey there. You must be... Reuts. Right?”

“Yeah. Javier Reuts.”

“That's a strange accent, what planet are you from?”

“I'm native to this one, just one of the smaller, less expanded cities.”

“Ah, outworld types. Colorful.”

“And, if you don't mind my asking...”

“Verdnadi. Just... Verdandi.”

“Alright. Um.. I take it you were seeking me. What is needed?”

“Oh... Headmaster heard of your arrival and seeks your audience.”

“Oh dear. Very well, lead the way.”

Headmaster Leonid Kravos was unlike most of the humanoids Javier had ever seen. Mostly because he has more arms than Javier had fingers. “Mr. Reuts!” His voice boomed with practiced ability, and from the headmaster having an extra set of lungs... Or three...

Or five...

“Yes sir?”

“Welcome to my school. I hear that you are extremely well-practiced with your blade?”

“I wouldn't say extremely, sir. I just work hard at what I do.”

“Ah, your father tells me you trained to be a smith?”

“Ah yes, sir. Adopted father, sir. He also taught me a touch of tailoring.”

“Quite the trade to take up in this day and age. Energy weapons outweigh metal weapons in use, 87 to 7. And most of the metal users are pirates, gangs, and thieves.”

“Well sir. I'll take the metal over the energy any day. The weight is perfect for the lashing strikes needed. I could never use an energy weapon for a fight. I need weight. Without it, the element of battle is just missing.”

“A man of tradition, just as my estimation had assumed. Welcome to my school. We'll ask that for the duration, you use one of the weighted practice weapons. The bouts and teachings serve to instruct, not damage. I'm quite sure you'll find the weight to your liking. And your weapon will be returned to your room, assuming it would ever need use.”

“Hm. If I must.” Javier handed his blade and belt to Verdandi, and had it replaced with a wooden weapon attached to a belt. Javier familiarized himself with the motion of withdrawing the weapon and bowed to the headmaster. “Beg pardon, sir. But the journey has exhausted me. Would you be so kind as to allow me recess until I am rested?”

The headmaster laughed, a warm sound when compared to the terse tones of speech, “Of course, Mr. Reuts. Rest well. Your schedule will be made when you've adjusted for the difficulty of high-altitude fighting. Feel free to make use of the gym, garden, and training grounds until you feel acclimated to the thinner air.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Verdandi, would you be so kind as to accompany Mr. Reuts around campus should he need any assistance?”
“I would be happy to do so, if Mr. Reuts has no objections?”
Javier smiled, “No objections, lady.”

Without further ado, Javier lowered himself into a hasty bow and retired to his quarters. She spoke to him, “I'll be in the next room over should you need anything, Mr. Reuts.”“Just Javier. Such formality seems to be a rude gesture given the kindness you've shown me.”
"Of course. Get some rest."
“Yes ma'am.”

---

Javier's arm burned with strain as he lashed out with the wooden weapon, striking in short strikes. His opponent reeled, moving to defend against the quick jabs of the wood. Javier capitalized on the clumsy defense, circling his opponent while striking. His opponent spilled backward, baton hissing as the wooden weapon's blows hammered into it. Javier struck high, then low; sidestepping with his momentum and steadily strengthening his strikes. White robes rustled as his opponent moved with renewed vigor, baton lashing wildly against Javier's weapon in surprise assault.

Javier immediately shifted his weight, switching to a defensive position. The baton hummed as it snaked across the air, battering Javier's defense. Javier loosened his muscles, batting the attacks away with reserved energy. As the robed opponent hastened, Javier lashed out, striking his opponent's weapon on the back-swing.

The attack was too much, and the swordsman's defense faltered as Javier slashed low, striking his opponent's leg. The attack drove him into a sideways sprawl, dropping to the ground. Javier lowered his wooden weapon to his opponent's throat.

“Enough. Excellent work, Javier.”

The robed swordsman rose, dusting himself off and sliding the metal hilt back into his belt. He bowed to Javier, and Javier mirrored the gesture. They both turned and bowed to the referee, and strode from the mat.

The swordsman in white robes dropped to the floor unceremoniously and nodded to Javier. “Excellent work on the mat. Your attack was hasty, so I assumed you had a glass jaw. I managed to flick the ball into your court, and I was sure I had you. Guess the defense was a feign, and you slapped my blade aside as if it was effortless.”

Javier shook his head, “No, you're very practiced. I normally manage to disarm before my opponents read my offense. You switched stances quickly enough to go on the offensive. Shows practice and a steady head. But, and I mean no offense, you seem a little too young to be challenging me.”

The young boy of 17 grinned, offering his hand to Javier. “Name's Duvrye. And you're right. You probably have years more experience than me.”
Javier traded grips with the boy, “I'm Javier Reuts. Just Javier is fine. We should spar again sometime, you have much potential.”
“Yeah, sure. But not any time soon, my leg's gonna be swollen for a week.”
“My apologies.”

---

Javier lounged in the garden, eating the meal he had cooked for himself. Salmon and rice. Despite the simplicity of the meal, and his own poor cooking, Javier felt relaxed in the garden. The school's population consisted of students who had arrived at the school through payments, and the school was by no measure cheap. People of skill, such as Javier and Duvrye, had gotten to the school through sheer ability and practice. Normally, this little fact count would not bother Javier, except for the fact that the people who arrived by purchase were often arrogant, loud, and had a lot of friends to boast about. Javier never particularly liked rich things or people, and spent a lot of time enjoying the simple elements of life, such as the outdoors. It was his oasis from the “perfection” of the rich school and it's even more rich students.

“Um. Javier?”
“Yes?” Javier turned to see Verdandi near him, in her traditional kimono. She always looked so relaxed, and Javier found she was a large part of his thoughts when Javier was looking for a friend to spend time with.
“May I sit here?”
“Of course, Verdandi.”

She smiled and took a seat, opening her own lunch container. “Just Dandi is fine.”

They ate in relative silence, but Javier felt more at ease with Verdandi around. Somewhere in Javier's head was a spark of something else there.

---

Echos bounded around the halls as wooden weapons slammed into each other. Students were sparring on the mat, and Javier watched with idle interest from the door. He had only had a few sparring matches, and had yet to see anyone of enough experience, save for the instructors, who could challenge his years of practice. Two students in rich purple robes struggled to find holes in their opponent's defense. Neither of them seemed to understand exactly when to strike, or how hard to do so. They went at each other in nimble, but otherwise clumsy attacks. The bigger of the two students stumbled on a particularly heavy attack, and the other was clipped by the crushing blow, but managed to pile some momentum into a spin and slam into his already-overbalanced opponent, sending him into a pile of limbs on the floor. As soon as the blow was dealt, the other dropped too, clutching his wounded shoulder. The referee acknowledged the winner and the two students chatted amiably as they stepped off the mat, rubbed sore spots from previous battles. One of the instructors in the back congratulated the smaller boy and called two more students to the mat. The first was a large, almost reptilian looking child not yet grown all the way into his long legs or arms. He packed a particularly nasty amount of muscle, which was all sheathed in pale-gray scales. His face was mostly human, but his eyelids were on the inside of his face, and his teeth were jagged points. When he spoke to the instructor, is was apparent he didn't go so far as slither or hiss, but his words had an odd aura and sound to them, more hollow sounding, as if the lungs and throat just weren't capable of bass in the slightest. It was a very awkward sound to Javier. The instructor then called Duvrye up to the mat. Duvrye had been training a lot since Javier's fight with him, and he was looking forward to seeing his improvement. Duvrye, medium sized but thick-build was all muscle and bone, and showed promise to be a very good fighter if he didn't start to rely only on strength instead of his brain and speed in a fight.
The two met on the mat and bowed a swift bow to one another, and the whole gesture seemed alien on the reptilian. Brencis, the instructor had called him. Brencis bowed, but the feeling behind the gesture was entirely missing. It was entirely mechanical. Once the formalities were out of the way, the referee shouted to start the match. Brencis moved like Javier had never seen before, and his wooden blade was already in motion. Brencis held a strange balance of attack, but Javier realized that it was because of the tail. Brencis covered a lot of ground quickly and moved more forward to attack than most could. Duvrye seemed more familiar with the reptiles than Javier did, because he weaved and lashed out, baton lashing out like lightning. Brencis fell, caught himself, reversed his momentum, and was up on one hand, a catch that would has broken the shoulder or elbow of a human. Brencis didn't seem to mind, he spun and lashed, wooden staff whistling through the air with momentum and raw strength.
Duvrye held his baton up in a defense, then immediately parried the crushing blow, flinging Brencis's momentum to a crashing halt onto the mat. Duvrye flicked the baton into a side blow, making Brencis lean on his weapon for support, spun onto his blind side, and rested the baton on his opponent neck, marking a tiny singe on the scales. Referee called that to be the end of the match.
The instructor called for the end of class and most of the students packed up and left. Brencis lashed his tail into Duvrye's leg, knocking the boy over. “You got lucky. Come try that again and I'll hammer you into the ground.”
“You're not worth it, Brencis. Leave before I report you.”
“Too afraid to fight, or too afraid to lose so hard that Lilia dumps you?”
Duvrye's mate, Javier mused, and it sparked such raw anger into Duvrye that caused him to activate his baton, spin, and throw a double-handed swing into Brencis's head. Duvrye was quick, and strong, and even Javier might have had trouble dodging that blow. Brencis had years less observation ability and reflex practice that Javier had, and he didn't see the blow coming until seconds too late. Brencis took the blow with the hiss of baton-heat and force; Brencis fell, scales turning brown on the side of his head due to the baton's low-setting slash. The referee had not yet finished packing up, and immediately tackled Duvrye, restraining him with some strange cuffs Javier did not recognize. He carried him off, apparently to the Headmaster's office.

Headmaster Kravos was listening to the referee when Javier got to his office. The headmaster nodded slowly as the referee spoke, but his gaze rested squarely on Duvrye. When the referee was done explaining the event, Kravos thanked him, and he left. The headmaster drew himself to his full height and stared down at Duvrye. “What happened?” “He provoked me, sir.”
“How often have you hurt other students in similar incidents, Duvrye?”
“Two times previously, sir.” Javier thought Duvrye looked remorseful enough, but Kravos disagreed.
“Each of those were also provoked?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Should you not have learned the first two times?”
“Yes, sir... But, they mocked my mate, sir.”
Over the month that Javier had been at the school, he had come to learn a lot about Duvrye. Duvrye came from a small planet similar to Earth. The planet was colonized when a major religion sought refuge from persecution on Earth. The planet's inhabitants carry no additional DNA nor special abilities than those of Earth, and looked and acted just like them. Save for romance. Duvrye's people don't have the same worries as Earth people do. Romance, flirtation, intercourse; it's taught to all ages. Most of the planet's inhabitants are married around the time their age reaches the double digits.
Duvrye is one of that planet's people, and he's not yet married, despite his age. But, he does have a mate, whose name is apparently Lilia, and he's very protective of her. He's also fairly large, muscular, and knows how to use his weapon. Nasty combination when people insult his mate. Brencis made that mistake.
“This cannot continue,” Kravos said, interrupting Javier's thoughts, “you are expelled from this school for the remaining semester. You may return on the beginning of the next semester. Your transport will arrive within the next hour. Dismissed.”
Duvrye slipped out of his cuffs, and bumped into Javier on the way out. Javier frowned at him, “This has happened before?”
“Yeah, always the rich alien families. I got here on talent, they always get in on money.”
“You coming back next semester?”
“Yeah. I'm going to marry Lilia over the break so I don't have to accept their taunts anymore. It's been long overdue, anyway.”
Duvrye waved to Javier when they got to his room, and started packing. Javier frowned as he strode down the hall. Javier only had two friends here at the school, and now he's down to just one. Verdandi.

---

Headmaster Kravos called from the referee's tower, “Alright students. This will be your midterm. You will all challenge an instructor of your relative level. Marks will be given by your opponent verbally after each match. Once all students are tested, marks will be recorded, and you are to retire to your quarters early. In the morning, post-semester cleanup. That is all.” Kravos started by calling out a student who's last name started with A, and then an instructor after the student had taken the mat. The list went along slowly. Finally, Javier's name was called.

“Reuts, Javier.”

Javier stepped forward, wooden blade in his hand bobbing as he padded across the mat. He paused at the edge of the mat and bowed to the headmaster, a sign that he was ready... Kravos nodded at him, then turned to the row of instructors. “Verdandi. Step forth.”

Javier tried to hide the surprise on his features, but he was fairly sure it was obvious. Over the semester at the dojo, Javier's regarded Verdandi as his only friend there. He didn't like most of the rich, spoiled children learning to fight because it's the prestigious things for their parents to teach. Duvrye was suspended for getting into a fight with another of such students. This set up Javier to spend only time with Verdandi, which formed into a very powerful crush, Javier realized on the mat. Javier couldn't bring himself to tell her, though. Verdandi stepped out of the tangled mass of teachers; her heavy kimono slipped off to reveal a smaller, less hindering kimono beneath. The cloth collected into a pile at the corner of the mat as she stepped onto the blue fabric. She reached the far edge of the mat and withdrew a short, slender wooden blade from the rack.

She moved to mirror Javier's position on the mat. She bowed to him, and he bowed as well, signaling they were both prepared. Javier whispered over the soft voices of the students discussing either's chances, previous matches, or taking bets. “You are a professor here, 'Dandi?”

“I rarely teach, but Leo convinced me to be your midterm.”

“I'm not sure I can hit you, 'Dandi.”

“Why not? Because I'm a girl?”

“No it's not that... It's... Uh...”
Kravos interrupted their whispers, “Stances.”
Javier whipped his wooden weapon in a small arc, ending in a waist-bow towards Verdandi, then he raised the sword in the classic fencing position. Vedandi whipped the wooden blade in a quick slash, raising the sleeve on her weapon arm, and held it parallel to the floor below her.

“BEGIN!”

Verdandi lashed forward with feline grace and speed. Javier registered the movement and raised his weapon mechanically. The blow hammered into Javier's defense, with more power than he credited the small woman. She was already on the move, slashing twice more toward Javier. Javier retreated back a pace, hardly moving his blade only fractions of inches to block Verdandi's flurry of strikes. She was quick, and her technique was good, but not flawless. Javier moved, whipping his wooden weapon in long arcs that parried Verdandi's strikes.

Often, Javier would be berated by his female instructors because he would not actually hit female opponents during sparring matches. He usually lost those bouts by decision, but could've easily won had he hit the girls he was asked to. One of his instructors, a woman named Mauve, stepped onto the mat with him and slammed into him with power and speed. She was older than Javier, and had lots of technique. “You can't just not hit me because I'm a girl, Javier.” She slammed a blow into his leg. Javier took the blow with a roll, getting into a defensive position quickly. “And you have to put your feelings aside in battle.” She hit him again, this time on his weapon arm. “Don't hesitate. I'm not your friend, or your lover, or anything other than your opponent.” She slashed a powerful hit onto his blade, and it tumbled out of his grasp. “I am just your opponent. Now, retrieve your weapon. I will not let you off this mat until you defeat me.”

Javier recovered his sword and bowed once again to Mauve. She then strode into the same series of attacks. Javier parried the blows reflexively, slowly making the turn striking, but too slowly to hit Mauve, would would weave or block. “Stop it, Javier. You're hesitating. I am only your opponent. Defeat me.”

Javier slowly gained his courage and waited for Mauve to strike again. When she did, Javier slapped the weapon aside and unleashed a flurry at his opponent. Mauve dove back, weapon lashing in hasty arcs to defend against Javier's speed and power. But the Javier moved quickly, and eventually batted Mauve's weapon from her hand. He struck a hard blow to her side, but she rolled to recover her weapon and launched another attack. Javier parried that attack and struck her again. This continued until she was beaten and tired. Javier, too, was sore and bruised, but he had won the fight. “You're still holding back.”

Verdandi had much more power and speed than Mauve. Her hits hammered into his defense, and even with his knowledge and ability, he would have trouble with Verdandi. Her slashes struck high and low, spinning and slashing. Javier made up his mind, and shuffled his feet forward, just inside Verdandi's range of striking. It also put their faces less than an inch from each other. Verdandi paused a shocked second before retreating with a pair of slashes. Javier warded the blows off and lunged forward. Verdandi switched to the defensive, parrying a sudden storm of blows from Javier. He struck in varying pressure styles, straining Verdandi's grip and muscles. Within minutes, her arm burned with exertion. Javier pressed further, striking low then high, then low again. Verdandi danced around the mat, making the most of her feline agility. Javier struck hard and quick, putting as much pressure as he could on Verdandi's defense. Finally, with enough sledgehammer blows, Verdandi's defense slipped and Javier rested his blade on the crook of her neck.

“Very good, Javier. You hesitated a lot, but I believe you've improved over the semester.” Kravos read off his remaining notes and scored Javier's performance. Afterward, Javier bowed to Verdandi once again with a flourish of his wooden blade and left the gym, walking toward the garden.

Javier sat under his usual tree, enjoying the shade and gazing over the rippling waters of the fountain. His arms and legs felt like jelly. He went all out on Verdandi, playing his strong strikes against her solid defense, and pummeling her weapon arm until her reaction was just slow enough to out-strength and get the non-lethal “deathblow.” He sighed, arms and legs heavy against the soft grass. He smelled her before he heard her, “Hey 'Dandi.”

She paused a moment, the grass moved in the wind. “Hey Javier.”

“You really slapped me around, 'Dandi. I'm sore.”

She sat behind him and began massaging his shoulders, silently. Javier opened his mouth to protest, but abruptly dropped off. Verdandi continued rubbing, moving her massaging fingers down his back. They remained in silence for a long time.

“Hey 'Dandi?”

“Yeah Javier?”

“Do you...” He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

“Javier?”

“'Dandi, you want to...” Javier paused, about to drop off again, but summoned his nerve, “do you want to go out sometime?”

The abrupt silence and cease of the massage worried Javier, he turned and got caught in a whiplash of hair and tangled limbs. Verdandi pounced him, grappling him in a tight hug.

“YES!”

Javier was stomach down on the bed, soft sheets surrounding his naked body. Verdandi was sitting on his back, rubbing her fingers across his bruised back. After disentagling himself from Verdandi in the garden, he hit the showers. Since his room was down the hall from the bath, he usually wore a robe to and from, leaving his clothes in his room. On his way back, Verdandi caught him and politely led him into her room. It was enough like his own, but with better design. The feminine touch, he mused. She told him to lay down, and had the robe pulled from his back before he could protest. Now she had him on his stomach, rubbing his back. He groaned as the tension slowly eased out of him. After she was done, she leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, “Had to finish from the garden.” Then she left the room, off to the shower in her own robes. He got up and slid his robe back on, pacing to his own room.

Javier grinned, enjoying his lunch with Verdandi. She was laughing at a joke he had made, and her laughter fueled his grin. This was their first “date,” and Javier felt good about it. His speech, normally formal and cautious, turned into an easy smile and conversational English. Verdandi's smile sent a warm feeling across Javier, and he reminded himself to make her smile more often. They paused in conversation to eat, and set their lunches aside. Javier got up, offering a hand to Verdandi. She took it, and they strolled to Javier's next class, occasional laughter invading the otherwise quiet halls.

It's been a year since Javier and Verdandi first got together, and they had both grown obviously more attached as time went on. Headmaster Kravos offered Javier a job as an instructor next year instead of enrolling again. Duvrye was back, and he had brought Lilia with him. Javier had spoken with a few students in secret, and managed to get his hands on some special materials. Javier knocked tentatively on Verdandi's door, being careful to look relaxed while hiding the long box behind him. She answered the door in her bathrobe, obviously about to leave for the shower. Javier smiled and invited himself in. Verdandi gave him a long kiss by way of greeting and stepped back, closing the door behind Javier. Javier smiled and handed her the long, simple box. It was wrapped carefully in deep green material. She carefully slid the material off of the wide box, wondering how Javier had sneaked it in behind him. It was nearly as wide as he was, and about as long as his entire back, and surprisingly heavy.

After the material was off, she tossed the box lid aside, and gasped. A deep green kimono was inside, and she judged it to be silk. She picked it up and draped it across her front. The size was a touch off, but very close for not having measurements. She looked at Javier, puzzled.

He grinned, “I knew my way around you well enough to guess at a size. But don't stop there.”

She set the silk garment aside and looked in the box. A sword lay in the box, sheath made of wood and painted a deep green. She slide the blade out, and found an emerald worked into the base of the blade, as well as a small card hanging from the end of the hilt. She set the sword across her lap and read the card, a small weight tugged down on the cord, but she ignored it.

“Dandi, I knew I'd need to get you something for our one-year anniversary. With a bit of difficulty, I managed to make this for you. I know how much you like green.”

She stopped and looked at Javier, he smiled at her, and motioned for her to continue reading the card. She turned and continued reading, “This year has been a dream for me. And I love you.”

She turned and found Javier on one knee, the weight on the cord was actually a diamond ring. “Will you marry me, 'Dandi?”

She leaned over, and pressed a kiss onto his lips, what Javier guessed as emotion welling into her voice, “Yes.”

Verdandi Reuts smiled at Headmaster Leo when the ceremony was done. Duvrye was ruffling Javier's hair, grinning as if his son had finally gotten married. It was an odd sight, considering Javier was at least two years his senior. Javier strolled up to his wife and kissed her softly, taking her into his arms.

They strode off to their honeymoon. Smiling happily.

And Javier found his place among the rich walls, and expensive gardens.

With Verdandi, his oasis away from perfection.