Chapter 40: 38- Bonding Time With Sara

Marik woke up the next morning and immediately reached for the warmth that wasn't there.  He sighed and got up to get dressed.  He headed down to grab some quick breakfast before heading to the guild.  While he was eating he realized there was a possibility that his sister hadn't gotten the message, slim as that possibility might be, so he ran back up when he was done eating and knocked on her door for a while.  He got no answer and couldn't hear anything from the other side so he turned back around and went to the guild.

He walked into the guild and saw Sara standing near The Bear's desk.  She was wearing two small swords tucked into her belt, with one on each hip and no scabbards, that looked so cheap and flimsy that Marik secretly wondered if they would even be able to count as usable weapons.  He sighed in relief and walked up to the desk himself while giving a light wave as a greeting.  Sara noticed him and waved back while The Bear placed their paperwork on his desk for them to review and sign.  Nobody said a word as the paperwork got finished.  Marik took the copy he needed for their proof, looked at Sara momentarily to make sure she was ready, and walked back out of the guild to head to their work location for the day.

The job itself didn't seem like it would be all too terrible as it was just acting as bouncers for a store in town.  They had about an hour before the job was actually supposed to start so they walked slowly and Marik tried to come up with some topics for discussion.  He hadn't really had any major interaction with his sister other than a few shopping sprees and none of the times in over ten years had he really been practically alone with her.  He finally gave up on a safe topic and just went with the first thing that came into his head.

"You know, you could probably beat me in a simple physical fight by now.  I mean, once you get to work on transforming then even that would be more to your benefit.  Don't you think you should find a slightly different goal?"

"Huh?  Oh, that.  I've actually tried to think about it before.  Several people have told me something similar over the past few years when I told them about my only real goal.  It's just that it was my whole reason for working so hard for so long and pretty much the main thing I thought about so I just don't know what else to do anymore."

"I see.  Well, do you actually like your fighting style that much?  You could always work to promote it more, become the greatest practitioner, or even just become among the greatest fighter of a kingdom, continent, or even the world."

"Become the best blade dancer in the world, huh?  That might not be too bad, maybe.  It still fits with beating you someday as well."

"I mean, those are some of the simpler ideas but ya.  You could also just go for something random yet even more simple.  You could try to see what all types of foods are all over the world or even just see the sights of the world itself, as some examples.  I'd also suggest mixing blade dancing with some mystical arts since it sounds interesting but then you're looking at years and years of work before you'd even start to see any kind of progress.  Only a genius like Sai would be able to figure it out well enough for proper use within only a year or two."

"Really?  Wouldn't that make you a genius, too, since you learned it faster than she did?"

"Pfft.  No no, I learned it earlier than her, for sure.  Faster, though?  It took me something like five to ten years to make it to the point that Sai made it to within two to three.  I also had a special set of circumstances that helped me learn faster than I normally should have whereas Sai's only special circumstance was having good teachers."

"Wow.  I mean I don't actually know how hard any of that is but it sounds kind of amazing when you think about how long it takes to learn it.  I guess Sai really is a genius."

"Yes, she is.  By the way, for normal people in normal circumstances it should take about ten to twenty years to actually get to the point where someone could be considered to be at the point of 'good enough' with almost any mystical art.  In other words it took a lot of special outside circumstances for me to be able to get there in about half the time but Sai got there almost ten times faster than what's considered normal with only having good teachers."

"Huh.  Well, I guess it's not exactly a good option for me, then, is it?"

"Not my call to make.  If you become interested in it and feel driven enough then it's not outside your capabilities.  Probably.  It does get harder to learn the older you are, though."

"Hmm.  I'll think about it, I guess.  I don't think it'll really be for me, though.  I've really enjoyed blade dancing and trying to learn something that takes so long like that just doesn't seem like something I'd end up doing.  Although the idea of improving on blade dancing does sound kind of fun.  I've had three teachers for it now but each one felt like they weren't teaching me everything or at least not correctly."

"Well there you go, then.  Work to perfect a martial blade dancing art.  It's a good goal."

"Why did you add martial to that?"

"Hm?  I mean, isn't blade dancing kind of meant more for show originally or something?  I mean, people who learn to dance well enough can use it to fight but nobody calls a dancer a fighter just because of that.  Since blade dancing is originally just dancing with some blades that got adjusted for fighting then making it more martial would help but not change that fact.  You'd end up basically having two things, one meant for fighting and one for showing off flashy moves."

"I guess that makes sense.  How do you even know that about blade dancing, though.  I didn't think you'd even seen it used yet."

"I know a little bit about a lot of things.  Much of it is kind of obscure..."

"Uh huh.  By obscure, you mean..."

"Stuff most people don't care about or wouldn't really benefit them to know in any real way.  There is some interesting stuff in my little wealth of knowledge, though.  For instance, the types of swords that are likely best to use depending on the style of blade dancing."

"Wait.  You know what kinds of swords I actually need?  And what do you mean by style?  Isn't blade dancing a style of fighting already?"

"Yes and no.  Blade dancing could also be done with only one sword, or technically even an axe, so we could say you're doing a two-sword style of blade dancing which is a style of martial arts.  As for what kind of swords, like I said it depends on the style.  If you're doing more work with you're body then you'd probably want curved blades to make each of the powerful hits cut better and help you move more cleanly.  If you use your arms and wrists more then you'd want lighter and longer swords to make the quick movements carry the power they need while still being quick."

"Wow.  None of my teachers ever said anything about that.  How do you...right, you just know some things.  I'm not really sure whish I use more, though.  Maybe I should just get one of each?"

"No, that would destroy the balance.  If you want, I think I could help you figure some of it out a little bit.  Maybe tomorrow?  We can head outside the village with Sai, maybe finally have that fight you're been dreaming of, and then we can help you out a bit before we move on to do out own thing."

"That sounds great!  Thanks.  So you think Sai can help me, too?"

"Sure.  She learned some dancing to help her with her own weapon usage so I don't see why she couldn't put some of that genius to work helping you figure your own stuff out."

"You really do think about her a lot, don't you?"

"Wouldn't have married her if I didn't think about and love her."

"How long have you guys been together?  I mean like as in with being in love with each other.  Please don't start giving me details I don't want to hear about."

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"No, you don't have to worry about that so much from me.  I'm not as bad as either of those two sisters.  But if I think about it then it's entirely likely that both of them have been in love with me since either the first or second time we met, so I guess around 7 years old or so?  I did love both of them, and still do, for a long time starting maybe only a little after that.  The only one I fell in love with is Sai, though, and that happened somewhere in my early teens I think."

"So you guys have known each other for almost more than half your lives already?  That's kind of nice."

"Hey now.  There's no reason to be so down.  Derek might be a bit dense but he's a good guy and since he seems to be your type both Sai and I are already trying to support you.  Both of you actually since we like Derek, too."

"Wait.  How did this suddenly turn to talking about that guy?  I never even said I like him or anything."

"My dear sister, I must ask you.  Do you think a couple who are madly in love already and have spent years seeing it in each other's faces would be blind to the beginning feelings of someone else who's clearly showing it all over their face?"

"But...even if you say you're supporting me it took you guys years to get together, right?  What if-"

"Stop!  Saying 'what if' is only a good thing when you're using it to try and plan around it.  Using anything that would come after that as some kind of excuse is just lame and pointless.  And the reason is took me and Sai years to get together finally is that we were still children.  There's also a few of those little details you don't want to hear in the reasoning but that's the main one and it doesn't apply to you."

"Okay, but that doesn't really mean I can just suddenly try and marry him or anything.  I don't even know how he thinks of me or anything.  It'd be embarrassing if I'm not his type after all and I'd rather we get to know each other a little before I even try to think about those kinds of things."

"So, it'd be embarrassing?  That's your big worry?  It's also embarrassing to suddenly trip and fall while walking but it happens on occasion.  If you want to get to know each other first, then that's fine.  Do that.  But some appeal in to him while you're getting to know each other.  Even if he's so dense that he never gets it then you could always point it out later when you're sure.  No, don't ask me about how to appeal.  I'm not a woman so I can't help you much with using womanly wiles to ensnare a man."

"I guess I could ask Sai, then.  Do you really think that would work, though?"

"Appealing to Derek while you get to know him?  Yes.  Talking to Sai about learning to do such appealing?  Eh...you might want to have Kiara around for some of those conversations, too.  For safety reasons."

"If you say so.  Whatever she did worked on you so I thought..."

"She tackled me to the ground a few time then demanded sex from me."

"Umm.  Right.  I should probably ask Kiara to...wait, wouldn't she be just as bad?"

"Nah.  Kiara has a good dose of common sense...for most things."

"I see.  I won't ask what the other things are.  Is it really that easy to talk with her, though?"

"Kind of.  Just ask either me or Sai whenever we're alone and it should be okay."

"Huh.  Maybe I should learn some magic after all.  It seems like it could be pretty useful at times."

"It can be but only after you learn it well enough.  Like I said, it's up to you to decided if it's worth it.  The main thing you should keep in mind is that the sooner you start the easier it is."

"I feel like there's just so many things to learn.  I kind of miss Goron sometimes.  Everything was simple there."

"Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I barely remember it.  I kind of prefer it this way, though.  I don't feel too weird about things most people find normal, like transforming, because of that.  I'll admit I'm kind of glad you left, too.  We might only be getting to know each other again after all this time but it's nice to have some family around."

Sara smiled at him in silence at that.  They relaxed for a bit longer near the entrance to the store they were to be guarding without talking.  The client soon showed up and they started their work of guarding near the entrance and counter for the day.  There were few incidents, all of which were easily taken care of with a bit of acting menacing while asking about the situation, and nothing major happened by the time the day was done.  The client signed off on their work and they walked back to the guild to report the job as complete.

As they were turning their paperwork in, Marik spotted Derek coming in and quickly came up with a plan.  He held Sara off to the side a bit and ignore her quizzical look while he waited for Derek to finish with The Bear.  Sara eventually followed his gaze and began to panic when she noticed that Derek was at the end of it.  Marik ignored her sudden bout of red-faced twitchiness and pulled her arm as he went to talk to Derek with his sister in tow.

"Hey, man.  I see you just finished a job, too.  I got some stuff to take care of, actually, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind keeping my sis company for an hour or so.  I feel she'd probably get bored if we left as is and she was stuck in her room all alone.  I got a few coins here to help pay for the drinks if you agree."

"Huh?  Oh, it's the male half of the psychotic duo.  You want me to babysit your sister for a while?"

"That's just rude.  'Accompany' is the word you were supposed to use.  She doesn't need a watcher, just some company."

"Oh.  Well, I ain't got much better to do, I guess.  A couple free drinks and the company of a pretty lass?  Sure, why not."

Sara's face nearly glowed from the brightness of the red blush that spread throughout her face like wildfire as Derek called her pretty.  Marik decided to try and drop some hints based on their conversation that morning.  He wanted his sister to actually make some kind of move after he left without feeling too embarrassed to do or say anything, even if she only managed some friendly chatting.

"Awesome.  It would have been kind of embarrassing if I had to admit out loud that you're one of the few and only friends I have around here.  It's nice to have a good guy I can entrust my sister to."

He handed over a couple coins and went back to his room.  He worked on his newest arcanistry idea some more but the already slow process was hindered further by his thoughts continuously drifting.  Sometimes they went towards hoping his sister was making at least some sort of progress while the other times he just thought about Sai.  Soon enough he gave up on trying to get any further and just went to bed.

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