Nusac

Chapter 8

Faith’s POV

Mwahahaha I get to play with fire! Ok… I know it’s childish but fire is fun and I get to play with it when I smelt or whatever it’s called. The moulds are a bit fiddly but smashing the heated up metal with a big hammer is kind of fun… plus it glows pretty colours.

I think I’m getting pretty good at this. Well the blades I am making are coming out in a better shape and have stopped breaking when I try to sharpen them. Sharpening them is really annoying. You basically have a small stone, which you run up the blade a few thousand times to sharpen it. But I have a plan for that.

Another problem is the heat in here. I keep forgetting how hot it is. What? I enjoy my work, what can I say?

So here I am covered in sweat and soot trying to sharpen a stupid sword in the hottest room I think I have ever been in when Namine comes walking in with what looks like a tub of popcorn chicken.

I put down the sword and wipe the sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm. “What’s that?”

“Gold, found it in the spring, there’s loads down there on the riverbed this might be our ticket to some money.” Nominee says with a smile. She then puts the pot down and rummages through a large wooden box until she finds a few large metal blocks then hands then to me.

I look down and see the block is actually two of them stuck together, I pull them apart and see some kind of inlay like an engraving on the metal. “You want me to make jewellery?”

“Makes more money.”

So the rest of the day is filled with me trying to figure out the exact formula to make the gold work, cant have it pure gold because it is too soft, Namine did give me a book which I guess was meant to tell me the formula but since I cant read the language…

Patience is not something I was always very good at. So I end up throwing the offending gold into the basket and leaving it there until I get Namine to read this stupid book to me.

So I go back to the blade I left in the furnace and begin to hammer it into shape. This I can do, who needs a book? Not me that’s for sure.

I’m only in there for about another twenty minutes. I’ve found that if I stay in there too long I get heat stroke. And it’s not the nicest of feelings. It’s like a hangover only you don’t get the great night before hand. So as you can see I’m trying to avoid that.

This place is warm most of the time anyway. There is hardly ever a cloud in the sky. Suppose that’s what you get with no pollution anywhere in the world. Don’t get me wrong it rains. It has to rain or to be quite honest we don’t eat. But it doesn’t rain a hell of a lot. Also when it does rain on you and then it dries out you don’t start to smell all funky like you do back home.

I actually really like it here. Considering I was forced here but I just don’t want to leave. Ever. I tried to for the first few weeks. Tried to find a passage in English in one of Namine’s books. One that could get me back to the other world. But I stopped trying. Why I hear you ask. The answer is because I don’t want to leave. I’m quite happy to stay here and live my life.

I mean it has its down sides. The demons and stuff only come out during the day instead of the night. Which takes some getting used to. Apparently the moonlight makes them just turn to stone. So of course they are not going to go out in it are they.

And there is never a new moon here. Mostly because there are two of them. Yeah freaked me out as well when I first looked up in the nighttime. There they were side by side. As if it were the most natural thing in the world. Well in a manner of speaking it is, in this world anyway.

Just a few of the things that smack you in the face and say ‘hey this isn’t where you came from.’ But I’m adjusting. Slowly but I’m getting there.

I wipe the sweat off my brow and shudder as the cool air comes in contact with my body. The sun is just setting which means that all the good vampires and demons and everything else are settling down to sleep. Mostly so they don’t turn to stone I would imagine.

I stretch out my arms and pick up the sword, which came with my horse. I know I’m making my own and everything but I don’t think they are very good no matter what my new friend tells me. I’ve only been doing it for just over a week. I don’t think they are weighted properly so I don’t want to use them.

Why am I picking up a sword when all the demons are going to bed? Well I don’t want to get behind on training. The demons here are wicked hard to kill. Much harder than back in Sunnydale. So training is one thing, which I’m not going to back out of. Besides… it’s fun.

So I begin to play with my sword. Fighting midair. I may look stupid but in my mind there is a big hairy demon attacking me. Helps me keep focused and not wondering what everyone around me thinks about what I’m doing.

The demon in my mind charges at me and I use the blade of the sword to push him in a different direction and miss me. Wish I’d have thought of that before when I faced the ugly grey thing, which left me bed ridden for days. Bastard.

Anyway in my mind he turns again. A lot like normal demons why do they never run away?

It doesn’t take long to feel eyes on me in my mental fight. I need to get a punch bag. I wouldn’t feel so stupid then. Do they even have punch bags here? Suppose I could always make one.

I pull myself out of my own mental image to see who’s looking at me. Who else could it be really? We live miles from anywhere. The only people who ever come here are the one’s that warn us of demons. And they happen to be tucked up in bed right about now.

Namine is looking at me almost confused. So I tilt my head at her in a silent question. “You are very good with that.” She gestures to the blade in my hands.

“Comes with being a slayer.” I say trying to roll some tension out of my shoulders. “You can use these as well can’t you?” I haven’t actually seen her even lift a sword but everyone comes to her if there is a demon around so she must know how to fight.

“No with my own hands.” Now I’m confused. Not that it takes a lot to confuse me. She must see the look on my face because she begins to demonstrate. “Watch.” She points to a stake that I left on the table to show me where to look then all of a sudden it comes flying towards me and stops about an inch from my chest.

“What the fuck!” I say jumping back. That’s when I realise I said that in English. Woops.

She smiles and laughs at me. “You are not the only one who is skilled around here.”

“How did you do that?” I ask as she makes the stake float back onto the table.

“Not sure how, I just can. I always have been able to do it.” She replies. With a shrug

“This girl I know from back home could do some magic stuff, she can move some stuff but she doesn’t have your aim.” I’m just about getting my heart to beat at its natural rhythm. Fuck that was scary.

She smiles shyly. She really doesn’t like being complimented. “But with a sword I’m useless.”

“Well rule one. Make sure this bit…” I point to the sharp blade. “Is pointing away from you.” Look I got a smile for that one. I throw the sword up so I’m holding the top of the blade loosely. Then I offer her the hilt. “Want to try?” She looks hesitant. Maybe I’m pushing something but I’m Faith. Faith the vampire slayer. I don’t usually take no as an answer. “Can’t hurt to try can it?”

That provoked a reaction as she takes the hilt and I let the blade slide out of my hands.

She tries to get comfortable with the new feeling. I have to smile. She doesn’t quite know how to hold it right. So I get up behind her and slide my hands down her arms. Effectively pushing my chest against her back. I move her hands into the correct position so she can balance properly. It is a big sword. So big in fact that you need two hands to hold it up. I should probably have started with a smaller one but we’re here now.

“Now open your legs.” I know it sounds dirty but again I am Faith everything normally does. I kick the inside of her foot lightly to push her legs a little further apart. “Little more.” I’m happy when she manages to place them as far apart as her shoulders. “Now bend your knees.” I push my own knees into the back of hers so she bends them involuntarily.

“It feels strange.” She complains adjusting her hands again.

I smile at this comment. “I know it does. But you need a low centre of ‘gravity’ to move quickly.” I said the word ‘Gravity’ In English, as we haven’t exactly talked about it.

“What is ‘gravity’?” I anticipated this question.

“It’s the force that pulls all things down to earth.” Don’t look at me like that I was in school for quite a while. “It’s the reason every time you jump up you are pulled back down. What word do you use for it?”

”We don’t have a word for that.” Cool I think I just invented something. Just call me sir Isaac Newton.

“Anyway.” I think we are getting a little off topic. “Just pull your arms up like this.” I pull her hand skywards so that the blade runs parallel to the floor. “If someone is attacking you from above this is what you need to use.” She nods at this and her hair tickles my nose so I snort a little to get it out of the way catching the smell of her in the process. I have to suppress a shiver. “Ok now pull it down like this.” I guide her hands so they are held just above her hip with the blade facing skywards and I turn her hands so it jolts in an arch to the left. “It defends you on your left hand side.” Well I didn’t have to explain that but I felt the need. I then jolt her hands to the exact same position on the right. “And your right hand side.”

“I think I’ve got it.” She says adjusting herself in her stance. This rubs against me. Great now I’m horny. I can’t help it. It’s all her fault for being so damned attractive.

“Ok then.” I take myself away from her before I just jump her then and there. I take two smaller swords from the side of the house and hand one to her. “Lets see it.” She digs the other one into the ground and accepts the offered weapon.

These ones you can use with just one hand and much are more lightweight. “Are you going to attack me?” She looks almost scared at this. Well she has seen me fight I don’t tend to let up.

“Yeah but slowly.” I answer trying to reassure her. “We’ll go in order ok?” She nods and I slowly raise the sword to bring it down at her. She brings it up parallel to the floor, which is the same way I just showed her and the sword clang together. The tip dips slightly from the force of my blow. “Ok keep your wrist ridged.” I push the blade up with my hands. “You need to let the blade do the work for you.” I push my sword into the ground to try and explain better. I take hold of her hands from the front. “Look use the force of your block to knock me away.” I push her hands into position very quickly.

“Ok I think I’ve got it.” She nods and we try it again. She gets it right, could that smile get any bigger?

I jump straight into an attack to her left hand side. She brings the blade down and pushes it sharply into position knocking my attack off course. I can’t help but smile. I’m a good teacher.