Neatly Folded Omelettes and Filipino Fighting Styles

Posted on Sun Mar 31st, 2019 @ 5:40am by Major Jacob Asher & Civillian Shae

Mission: Interlude 1
Location: Jake's House
Timeline: Day after The Fox and the Major

Jake slipped into a warm robe. Before he left the bedroom, he got a fire going in there so it would be nice and warm in there for Shae when she got out of the shower, then went down stairs and did the same thing in the fireplace there. Then set about making breakfast...brunch, now. He diced peppers and onions and mushrooms. He shredded cheese. He scrambled eggs. He cut a few thick slices from the fresh loaf of bread he’d picked up. Not many, because Shae was going to go straight for the veggies and the dairy and the meat, but it was good bread and she might like it in small doses. He’d set a kettle boiling before he’d started, and when it was done, he picked one of the teas Shae mentioned liking and set it up to steep in a pot so she could have more than one cup if she liked. He set a pot of coffee brewing for himself.

Jake started the sausage browning and poured the egg in a large pan. Jake (unlike his writer) was really good at making large, neatly folded omelettes, so he could make one in a large pan and then split it between them. He divided his time between the browning sausages and the over-sized omelette, while managing to get the toast in.

Shae didn’t linger in the shower for too long, just long enough to rinse away the sweat and run some shampoo through her hair. Once she was out and toweled off, she combed her hair and tail and then donned the white cotton under-kimono, leaving the main kimono and haori on the bed for later, then after tidying up a bit she headed downstairs.

Jake grinned triumphantly as he successfully got the large omelette out of the pan and onto a serving dish without so much as a tear. He set the platter on the counter. “And now these!” Jake extracted the sausages from the pan and lay them all on a plate with paper towels on it to drain off the grease. The toast popped right at that moment and Jake quickly buttered them all. Somewhere along the line he’d pulled the tea leaves just at the right moment as well. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s set out some plates and utensils and some cups for coffee and tea and then we can eat!”

Shae smiled at him and she went to the kitchen to pull some plates and utensils from the dish rack to set them out on the table while Jake brought the food out to the table. His tablet was still set up nearby, so she opened it and scrolled through his music and found his list of jazz, then hit the random button, then joined Jake at the table while some smooth jazz flowed through the speakers.

“Still hungry I assume?” Jake said. “Maybe even more hungry? I hope so, because I’m ravenous, and for the first time in twelve hours, that hunger isn’t totally focussed on you!”

Shae blushed and then giggled. “Yes, I am quite hungry,” she confirmed with a smile, then sat down. “The egg smells wonderful, but I wonder if there is enough to feed us both!”

Jake laughed. “Tell you what,” he said. “Share with me so I don’t faint from hunger, and then if you’re still hungry, I’ll make more!” Jake served a heaping portion of omelette to Shae and then shoveled sausage onto her plate. “The bread was baked yesterday, and…” he went to the counter and came back with a small caddy with strawberry and blueberry preserves and marmalade. “It’s already been buttered. If you want to try something sweet, spread some of one of these on your slice of toast. I checked before I bought these in particular, that they would be okay for you in small doses.” This time, it was Jake’s turn to blush. “Yeah, I was really hoping I could convince you to come here with me.” He sat down and poured Shae a cup of tea and himself a cup of coffee. “Dig in!” he said, starting at his own food.

“Itadakimasu!” Shae said, then took a bite of her omelette, humming appreciatively. Then she gave the bread some attention since he had been so considerate of her needs. “I don’t often eat much bread,” she said as she claimed a piece and gave it a bite. “The bread I am able to get from other worlds is often very hard. But this is very nice.” She leaned in to get a look at the fruity spreads and chose some of the strawberry preserves and spread a small bit on her toast to give a try. “There was one world that I would go to, but not for the bread, it was for this, um, it was like cheese, but not like what is melted in the egg now, it was white and soft and creamy and you could spread it on the bread. It was very good and I would get bread for that. This is good too!”

“Glad you like it,” Jake said. “So after we recover from eating all of this, would you like to take a walk through the woods around here? Best option is you do it in human form, but, if you want to run the trails in your fox form, there are going to have to be a few rules and absolutely all of them are for your safety, and only for your safety. So, walk down the trails holding my hand, or go tearing around, not too far from me, but tearing around on all fours?”

“A walk would be nice. After the overwhelming visit to the city for the shopping, I am ready to see something familiar,” Shae replied. “What are these rules in case I do wish to go walking as a fox?”

Jake sighed. Time to bite the bullet. “Okay, so you don’t look like a wolf exactly, and you’re too big to be a fox, which is good, because people can’t really have those as domestic companion animals. You do kind of look like some kind of Spitz mix. Spitz is a breed of domestic canine here. There aren’t a lot of people up here, especially this time of year, but there are people who like to hike and even camp in this kind of weather. So if we run into anyone and they ask what you are, I’m going to tell them you’re a Spitz mix and try to deflect most of the other questions. Now, I can’t tell them you don’t like to be pet, or that you’re not friendly, because they’re going to wonder why you’re not on a leash, so you may have to tolerate listening to how good and pretty you are while strange people pet you. I’ll get you out of those situations as quickly as possible, but I can’t really stop them from happening. You’ll have to stay relatively near me. If you’re too far out, someone may think you’re a stray. There’s something else, but Nathan gave me permission to not worry about it this weekend.”

Shae paled slightly as she listened to him explain the concept of being his ‘pet’ for the sake of her safety, and she certainly didn’t like the idea of being touched by random strangers, but at the same time, she understood the approach, that if she was caught running around as a fox, that there had to be some reasonable explanation to prevent strangers from taking her. It was all very unsettling, she didn’t like it, but she understood and respected the thought that went into it.

“I see,” Shae finally said, taking a deep breath and then taking a sip of her tea before continuing. “Well, I’m not fond of the idea of having to be your pet, but I do understand why you would suggest something like that. I have seen the dogs on base responding to commands and wearing identification. I suppose at some point these would become necessary as well to help with this ruse.”

“Shae,” Jake said. “I need to be clear here. I only made that suggestion so you would know it was an option, because I know you chafe when you’re restricted to being a human in public. But I would never actually suggest to you that you should be my pet. Not only do I respect you far too much, but no pet in any way, shape, or form, could be so far down the road to capturing my heart in so short a time. I’m sorry, Hell, I’m embarrassed I even offered the option. It was a really ill thought out attempt to give you some freedom. Please forgive my great disrespect. I am deeply, deeply sorry.”

Shae sighed. “I cannot lie, I do find the idea distasteful, but I’m not upset with you, Asher, because I know it came from good intentions,” she said. “Truly, it’s no different than the identification papers I was given saying that I am a refugee; I know I wouldn’t actually be your pet, it’s just something to say to keep me safe. If anyone else had suggested something like this, I would find it demeaning, but I know you did not mean any harm. Even still, I’m not looking forward to strangers trying to pet me, but if this keeps me safe and gives me more freedom, then it is a small price to pay and I will have to learn to live with it, just as I must learn to live with the rest of my situation here on Earth.”

“Thank you, Shae,” Jake said. “And I’ll abide by any decision you make, and I’ll find as many opportunities as I can for you to go to Lethuan so you can run free if you want. I think Nathan might put us on light duty for the week. You can probably spend a day or two home if you want. I can find time to join you if you want the company, but if you need some alone time, I’ll understand. In the meantime, Would you settle for taking a long walk through some beautiful country on two legs, holding hands with a guy who’s crazy about you and would do anything you asked, anytime you asked, simply because you asked, and mostly without question?”

Shae offered a soft laugh and then nodded. “A walk does sound lovely,” she said, but there was something in her eyes, a hesitance, resistance to the idea of getting closer emotionally, and letting him get too close. It made her heart skip a beat to hear that he felt the way he did, but it also scared her; she did care for him, and they had gotten physical, but what he was saying now, it was so much more than sex… In fact, it was not unlike what Morgaine had said to her about her relationship with Sanicios, and Shae wanted what Morgaine had, but change was hard and this was all moving so fast, it felt like a shock to her system. “Don’t forget, you said you’d take me to look at bows and even do some training with a pistol,” she said, trying to pretend they weren’t just having a moment.

Jake didn’t lie to himself. That Shae had brushed him off hurt quite a bit. But maybe he’d come on too strong. This was not an uncommon problem on his part. He’d just have to take it slow.

“Okay,” he said. “Well, I can start training you on a pistol here. There’s a spot my buddy used to practice, and I’ve got some pistols here to practice with, and I’ll show you, and later this week I’ll take you to look at bows, but you have to promise to let me start teaching you to handle yourself up close, open handed, with a blade, and with an impact weapon. And I mean today. Deal?”

Shae made a show of pretended to consider this offer; of course she accepted, but she could tell his mood had wilted somewhat after her rebuff, so she was just trying to lighten the mood a little. “Deal,” she finally answered. “And Asher…” she started to say, feeling uncomfortable about what she was about to say; she didn’t think it was a bad thing, but she didn’t know how to get it out without trampling all over his feelings. “When we’re on base… I know that people kind of already suspect that there’s something going on between us, but when we’re on base, I don’t want things to be complicated. When we’re here or on Lethuan, I don’t mind exploring whatever this is between us, but I don’t want that to get in the way of whatever we have to do.”

“Absolutely,” Jake said. “And when we’re in the field, I’m in command and if I have to give an order, even one that neither of us likes, I’ll need you to obey it unless there is an extremely compelling reason not to.” Jake shook his head. “I’m still going to be nice to you at work, because pretending to hate each other or don’t mean anything at all to each other when at work while we explore what’s developing between us outside of work is childish, not to mention impossible to sustain. But I will be professional. Fair enough”

“I never meant to suggest that we should pretend to hate each other,” Shae said, blushing with embarrassment. “But I am perfectly comfortable with ‘professional’, just so long as that also means separate sleeping arrangements and no kissing, because I may actually die of embarrassment if someone saw us.”

Jake decided that mentioning to Shae the fact that everyone saw them leave together and would see them come back together the next day or the one after that and assume something was amiss. “You have my solemn promise. I hope this doesn’t mean we have to sleep in separate rooms here tonight? Because while I would do that for you, I would be very, very lonely.” He grinned at Shae. “Look, Shae, I’m not trying to pressure you into something you don’t want to do or aren’t ready for. I may say cheesy--corny--uch--silly, even ‘romantic’ things, and I’ll probably mean most of them, but I’m a grown man. I’m not going to follow you around like a puppy dog and beg for your attention. I have my dignity and I can respect yours. I won’t intentionally embarrass you. I have your back Shae. I’m human. I’m fallible, but I will always strive to treat you with the respect and decency you deserve. Now, let’s finish our breakfast and get dressed. First we work with open hand, impact, and blade techniques, then I teach you how to shoot, then we see where we stand. Eat up. You’re going to need the energy. Training in the cold saps it right out of you, but I don’t have to tell you that.”

Shae nodded with agreement. “I don’t know how my bow training compares to what you have planned, but practicing on Lethuan is brutal, but I love doing it. I embrace the cold because it means that I have learned to keep my arrows steady through even the strongest shivers, so getting nervous doesn’t affect my aim because nerves can’t compare to Lethuan’s chill.”

“Good,” Jake said. “Now eat, listen to the music, relax, let me enjoy the your company for just a little longer before I have to start teaching you to kick ass like a boss.”

Shae chuckled and finished her meal, and afterwards they washed the dishes and then went back upstairs to get changed. Shae wasn’t certain what to expect with this training. Her own training was rather freeform and mostly consisted of repeating certain actions until her muscles burned and she could no longer feel her fingers, or firing arrow after arrow until her fingers bled. She didn’t think Jake would push her until she was bleeding, but outside of that she had no idea what he had planned.

Jake came out with a barrel with both twenty-eight inch long rattan sticks and twenty-four inch long rattan sticks. They were strong, but under repeated use, they could wear down and crack, so he kept a bunch for training, especially because when he didn’t have a partner to train with, he trained against trees and tree branches.

“Okay,” Jake said. “When I was a kid I learned four different kinds of martial arts from the Republic of the Philippines. Kali, Kuntao, Dumog, and Panankutan. That sounds like a lot, but it was spread out over the whole week and I was pretty driven to learn them because I enjoyed them a great deal. Coincidentally, General Wolf has had some very similar training. Anyway, I basically learned how to fight with sticks, short swords, knives, and daggers, with my feet, knees, elbows and hands, and to grapple and wrestle. A lot of the body mechanics for the different arts were similar, so there was a lot of overlap. I’m going to start with the sticks with you, because it will teach you how to move. We’ll start with a single stick, 28 inches long, and if you get good with that, we’ll switch to a 24 inch stick.”

Jake handed Shae a stick and showed her basically how it moved, that she should use a slashing motion instead of a striking motion, except for the jabbing strikes. He demonstrated the angles and the body mechanics of each, but then had her focus on only two. Left shoulder to right hip, and right shoulder to left hip. As she alternated those strikes, he taught how to be aware of how her body naturally moved in response to each one. Then he faced off with her and they practiced doing those to angles against each other. Their sticks clacked against each other as they practiced. When Shae seemed like she was somewhere between comfortable and bored, Jake started advancing on her while she retreated and then had her do the same to him, and then they alternated this. When she seemed comfortable with that, he added a low strike and a high strike at the end of an eight count on the first two angles.

“One, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight, low, high,” Jake said as they advanced and retreated. Good. For now let your body’s natural movement and the momentum that naturally builds provide the power to each slash. Good. Be careful to flow naturally and not let the momentum take control. And keep that off hand alive! Up and ready to defend. If you have to for now, keep it near your chest and tap your chest every now and then to remind yourself to keep there. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, low, high! Good!”

“This is… not how I am used to training,” Shae remarked, trying to keep up with the pattern of strikes he had shown her. “When I wish to learn something new on Lethuan, I repeat a motion, sunup to sundown, then the next day I do the same to learn the next motion, and the next day the next motion. I do not put it all together until my muscles have had the individual motions burned into them.” Her breaths were coming a little harder as they continued, and despite the cold, she was starting to work up a sweat. “Sometimes I will practice a part for many days before advancing to the next part, if it is proving to be tricky to learn. But once I have the whole pattern complete, I will repeat it for many weeks until it becomes a part of me so that doing it in battle becomes automatic.”

“You’re picking this up quickly,” Jake said. “And I’m not going to go much further than this with the stick training today. I just want to you start getting a feel for how your body moves, and give you a drill you can practice, even against a tree on Lethuan or out here, or maybe on a padded post I’ll set up for you in your quarters, if that won’t make you uncomfortable. You can just tell people it’s training related. Okay, let’s stop this for now. Water break. Well, tea break, too, if you want.”

Jake took the sticks and stuck them back in the wooden barrel. He led her in some quick stretching exercises to make sure her muscles didn’t seize up on her and then grabbed two canteens and tossed one to her. He took several drinks, then capped it and set it down. He took out a thermos and two mugs and poured fairly warm tea for both of them.

“Here, this’ll warm you up a bit,” he said. “Take a moment, let your breathing and heart rate come down. We’re going to go over a few basic hand strikes and kicks I want you to practice when we’re not training together. Don’t overdo it, but make sure that you practice a little everyday, same with the sticks. Obviously missions may get in the way, but as a rule, a little bit everyday.” He grinned at her. “You did good, Shae. You were really moving like a pro there as you started to become more familiar with the drill. Also, make sure to train in your preferred form back at the base and on Lethuan. If I’m there with you, we can figure out how to make that work best for you. We’ll have to modify the footwork a little and the kicks. The grappling will take a little modification for that form as well, because your legs work differently in that form. But we’ll work it all out.” He grinned at her again. “Sooo… since we’re not on the base… can I kiss you? You look very kissable.”

“Ah, just this once,” Shae said, smiling softly. “But when we are training, I would like to just train, no temptations or distractions. Is that okay?”

“Ah,” Jake said. “We were training, and in just a moment we’ll be training again. Just this moment, though, we are drinking tea and I am stealing one of these--” Jake pulled Shae close and kissed her, a gently passionate kiss, affectionate, with just enough desire to be noticeable without being overbearing. It was the kind of kiss that was all about the person being kissed. It said ‘I care for you, I desire you,’ but it demanded nothing in return.

Shae let him have his kiss and savored it with a soft sigh, but the moment he started to pull away, she grabbed one of the sticks and swung it at him, stopping just before she hit his shoulder. “When I train, I train, I do not take many breaks, and even when I do I am mindful of my lessons,” she said, grinning at him. “Tea is not an excuse for kissing.”

Jake grinned. Shae was holding the stick too high up, leaving enough of it to grab for a disarm. Jake did just that, taking both ends of the stick and twisted, applying good footwork. He easily disarmed her and soon had her pinned face down in the snow. He slowly brought the butt of the stick down and tapped her on the head. “And while being a wiseass can be fun, it can also lead to carelessness.” Jake rose and helped Shae to her feet. “What did you do wrong?”

“I let you talk me into a break before I was ready to stop,” Shae grumbled, then gave a more earnest response. “I grabbed the stick too high, but in my defense I wasn’t looking at where I was grabbing because someone was distracting me.”

“Maybe that was my evil plan all along?” Jake said. “And yes, you did grip the stick too high. Too high, and it’ll get taken from you or worse. Too low, and it will get knocked out of your hand. Hold it about like this.” Jake demonstrated. “See how there’s enough protruding from the bottom of my hand to provide for a solid, balanced grip? That hand position allows you to use the butt of the weapon as a striking surface. Some of the blades I’m thinking might work for you either have, or can have added, a pommel that is both metal and pointed. Not necessarily sharp, but pointed, so that if someone gets inside your guard, you’ll be able to strike with it. Okay. Punching and kicking basics, let’s go. If we can make some progress on that, we can go back to the sticks for a bit if you’d like, or go for a brisk hike before it gets too dark and cold.”

Jake showed Shae the basics of how to punch and kick. He’d get into elbows and knees later. He showed her punching and kicking drills she could do leading with either hand and made her switch leads frequently. Again he told her to pay attention to her body mechanics, reminding her that they would different in her preferred hybrid form. Then he put on some target training hand pads and had her practice punching and even kicking the pads as he positioned his hands for her to hit and kick them solidly.

“Punching and sticks should be fine,” Shae started as she continued to punch and kick, “but kicks will be a problem with paws. We may need a whole day simply to adapt for that.” And she could definitely see the benefit of having a padded post in her room to practice, and she was already working through her head how she could make her own ‘pads’ for when she was on Lethuan, maybe with some leather and straw and she could lash them to a tree...

“Yep,” Jake said. “And with the grappling work as well. For that I’d like Ree to work with us. In fact, when we’re on base, Ree can train with us for all of this stuff if you’d like. That way it won’t look like I’m playing favorites. Hell, sometimes we can invite the whole Goddamned team and Nathan and I can team teach you all.” Jake grinned. “Anyway, a lot of the grappling involves the use of the legs. The mechanics of yours are different when you’re in hybrid form, so we’ll need to figure out what will work, what won’t work, and what of what won’t work we can adapt. Good. Left, right, left, duck as I pass over, then right, left, right and the same thing. Good. Keep alternating those two routines a bit longer. Good. You’re doing good. Notice how your body is moving with each punch. How can you put more power into the punch without putting in much more effort? Don’t tell me, just do it.”

Shae started by turning her hips as she punched, which seemed to yield a bit more force. She was starting to throw her whole body into each punch, but she was also noticing that if she overextended her body that her stance became weak, and while she hadn’t lost her balance yet, she knew that if Jake chose to attack at that moment that she would crumple with very little effort, so she backed off slightly, choosing to focus on master the stance and the motions with what she’d figured out so far.

“I don’t think I want to learn much more before I start to master what you’ve taught me so far, but I think I can manage some grappling,” Shae said as she continued to punch and kick, now with more force than she had before.

“Okay,” Jake said. “You’re doing great. A little more now,” Jake kept Shae drilling for a while longer, then called a break. “Okay, hydration and snack break.” He said after they’d had a quick stretch. “Let’s get out of the cold and have some lunch. After lunch, while we’re inside, I’ll show you a few different kinds of pistols, including the two that are available at PND. I’ll show you how they work, we’ll talk about safety, and you’ll demonstrate for me that you understand how to handle the weapon safely unloaded before I take you to the outside range on the property and let you shoot at targets. Firearms are extremely dangerous, not the least because if you don’t know what you’re doing you can cause one to go off when you don’t intend to and in an unintended direction, so I’m going to be a hardass--strict, about this. After we get some shooting in, we’ll grapple just a little, just the very basics, and then finish with some sticks. After that, if you’re still on your feet, we can go for a walk or something or just shower and sit by the fire and listen to music until we have the energy to cook dinner. Deal?”


Shae had wanted to train, so it was training she was getting. Jake didn’t really mind. He got to spend time with her and when she was concentrating on learning, she wasn’t preoccupied with her fears and worries about his feelings for her and her feelings for him.

He took far too many breaks, in her opinion, and shoved more lessons into the day than she was really comfortable with, but Shae also understood that he was just showing her the basics that she could go on to practice during her free time in her own way, so she tolerated his ‘method’ and followed him inside for lunch. After lunch came the pistols as promised, and she spent a good half hour simply repeating the motions for loading the clip, removing the safety, and loading the chamber with a round (not really because the clip was empty, but she understood his explanation that to not do this last step would mean the first pull of the trigger would not fire anything). Safety on, safety off, clip in, clip out, loading the chamber and ejecting the ‘round’ when unloading, over and over until the foreign motions started to become comfortable.

“Alright,” Jake said. “I’m satisfied you’re not going to shoot yourself in the foot or me in the ass if I give you real bullets at the range. We’ll take both the Glock 19 and the Beretta M9 and see which one you’re more comfortable with when you actually have to shoot them. It did seem to me, though, that you were having an easier time manipulating the Glock 19. That’s smaller, blockier, polymer framed one. Am I right about that?”

“Yes, I do not like the safety on the other one,” Shae said. She was certain she would learn to use both of them eventually, and more, but for now she just wanted to focus on the one pistol. Taking the Glock 19, she went through the motions of load and unloading the gun a few more times. “Yes, I like this one better.”

“Okay,” Jake said. “Let’s go.” Jake put the gun in its case, and put it in a bag with other shooting supplies, including several boxes of cheap 9mm range ammo, and an 18 round box of .45-70 for the guide guide he was taking with them. The Black Bears should still be sleeping, and they usually left people alone, but you never knew. He put on his coat, hat, and gloves, slug his six-shot 1895 Marlin Lever Action Carbine, and picked up the bag. “Let’s go.”

Jake led Shae away from the house to where a range had been set up. There were steel targets at various ranges, including circles large and small, squares, large and small, and torso shaped ones. Jake took a can of white spray paint out of the bag. “This shit is really going to smell bad to you. You might want to move over there in case the wind shifts.”

Shae moved to where he indicated and watched as he started to spray the targets white. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

Jake motioned for Shae to wait a moment, then came back to her when he was done. “Sorry. God that stuff smells bad! I don’t like to open my mouth when I’m spraying it because then I get the taste of it in my mouth. Anyway, those targets are made of steel with paint on them. When you shoot them, it bullet strikes make marks on in the paint. So you have to paint over them now and again so you can see how well you’re doing. We’ll shoot at paper targets in a bit, but since we’re just getting you used to firing a weapon, you can just shoot at the big targets we’ve got here now. Last time I was here with my friend, we shot the Hell out of them as you could see when we arrived. Anyway, let’s get set up.”

Jake went over to the table his friend had actually built out here to avoid having to drag a completed table through the woods. He removed the Glock from its case and did a simple field strip. He’d shown Shae how to do that already, but he made her put it back together and take it apart and reassemble it again. Then he showed her how to safely load a magazine, then had her put a magazine in and jack a round into the chamber. He helped her get into a good shooting position.

“Now,” he said. “Just like we practiced. Line up the sights on the center of the target and squeeze the trigger, nice and easy.”

Shae did as instructed, flinching slightly at the noise the gun created. She had heard how loud the rifles had been during their fight on Hen Da Ye Huihe, but everything had been loud, and she had been more focused on surviving than the loudness of their weapons. But this was in her hands and the forest was so silent, so it made the gun so much louder! She shook her head to dispel the surprise and fired again, this time managing to do so without flinching. The first shot went wide and missed the target completely, but the second shot made a satisfying ping on the steel target.

“This seems very inefficient,” Shae remarked with a grimace. “It is loud, it smells, and if you run out of bullets in the field then this weapon is useless. At least with my bow, I can make more arrows, or I could even use rocks if I wish, and you never have to worry about running out of anything with a knife,” she said, but then lined up the sights to see if she could hit the same spot as before and squeezed the trigger, ending up near the first strike. She wasn’t fond of how she had to be so precise with aiming the gun either, her bow was so much easier, it was muscle memory, but she understood the importance of learning to use this weapon, so she didn’t want to complain too much.

“Alright,” Jake said. “You’re doing great. Now that you’ve had an opportunity to hear the thing go off in your hand, put these in your ears, here, like this.” Jake showed her how to put in the ballistic ear plugs he gave her. “And let’s try something.” He took out a clip on holster and affixed it to her belt in the three o’clock position and showed her how it worked. He had her unload and clear the weapon, then holster it. Then he had her practice drawing and sighting the target in front of her with an empty gun. After a bit, he had her try the same thing but with a loaded gun and fire one shot as the gun came on target. He had her doing that for quite a bit until she drew smoothly and was able to put the weapon on target fairly quickly and fire off a shot competently for a beginner. “Want to go for two shots on each draw?”

“Two shots?” Shae asked curiously. “What is the purpose of shooting this way?” she asked, then took and and squeezed the trigger twice.

“For now?” Jake said. “Just getting you comfortable using the firearm and placing more than one shot on target.”

Jake asked her to step aside and holster her weapon and then ran through a few tactical and defensive pistol drills and run and guns just to show her how one of these could be used if you knew what you were doing. Then he came back to her.

“So that’s what it looks like when you get good at it,” he said. “A pistol in a combat situation is mostly a backup weapon and really only used at extreme close range. As you can see with what I did there, I wasn’t really very far from anything I shot at. I’ll do my best to teach you to do some of that, so if something gets close, you have a fighting chance. Yeah, it’s noisy and it’s smelly and it’s uncomfortable to shoot, but in a pinch it can save your life out there. You want to keep doing this some more? Or move on to grappling and finish with sticks. Those don’t run out of ammunition.”

“Sticks,” Shae said. Her aim with the pistol wasn’t as good as his, but it was more than passable for having just learned to use it, and she could always visit the range at the base if she wanted to practice, but for now she wanted to work with the sticks a little more before they started to lose the sunlight. She unloaded her weapon and returned it, the clip, and the holster to Jake.

Jake put the weapon away and led them back to the house, got out the sticks and began to work with her again. They worked for a while and then took a walk in the woods before returning to the house to clean up for dinner and music in front of a roaring fire. When they got back to the mountain, it would be all business again until they could sneak away again, but for now they could be themselves and see just where that might take them.