The alarm clanged its bells, ringing merrily as it was supposed to. A groan sounded on the air and James Brighton turned over, his hand slapping the machine. The alarm stopped and James yawned, sitting up in the bed he occupied. He blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he woke up. He checked the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was five-thirty in the morning.
He sighed and slowly got out of bed, stretching and cracking his limbs. Standing up, James stretched even more, getting his circulation going. Once he was awake enough, he figured it would be best to show up clean and headed to the bathroom to shower. James wasn't in it for very long, just doing a cursory scrub and letting the hot water bring him to full wakefulness.
Once he was clean enough, he killed the shower, dried off, and got dressed in some clean clothing. James didn't have much and knew he'd have to rectify this soon, or risk looking and smelling like a bum. He grabbed his coat and Katana sword before leaving his cabin behind. He took the nearest stairs he could find and headed straight up to the flight deck.
It didn't take him long to reach it, as the stairs were all stacked close together. The moment he walked out of the door, he took in the early morning light. It was a beautiful thing, watching the sunrise from this altitude. James took a deep breath, as the air was thinner on the deck than it was inside the ship. He spent another minute staring at the sunrise before he turned to find Sifu Chang.
He spotted her by the zone that had been cordoned off as a sparring area. She stood there impassively, watching the boy approach with an almost amused smile on her face. James checked his watch and saw that he still had ten minutes before their lessons were about to commence.
James headed to her anyway, as he figured it was always a good idea to show up early. That way, you didn't make anyone feel like they were wasting their time with you. He trotted up to the Sifu, and he bowed to her respectfully. Once he rose back up to a standing position, he saw Li-Fan give him a nod of her head in reciprocation.
"You are early," she said simply.
"I did not wish to waste your time, nor show any disrespect... Sifu," James replied sincerely.
"Good boy. I see you brought your weapon. You will continue to bring it every day, though there will be days you will not need it. Place the weapon there and pick up one of the bamboo practice blades. We will begin there," she told him.
James nodded and did as he was told, placing the blade on the rack where the other weapons waited. Some were edged steel, while others were wooden practice blades. James selected one of them and picked it up, swinging it a little to get a feel for it, before turning back to the woman.
"Take ready position, as Ernest showed you yesterday," Li-Fan commanded. James did this, placing his left foot forward, while putting his right behind him and he leaned forward in basic stance. The woman walked around him and grunted in disgust, tapping his feet with her own blade so he stood properly. Li-Fan then walked over and collected a weapon similar to his, then assumed the same position he was in.
"Watch my movements first, then follow along the second time," she told him.
James nodded, and he watched as Li-Fan made five precise movements. She moved her feet with each swing of the blade, showing James what his feet were to be like as he moved. The moment she was done, Li-Fan looked back to James, and he nodded, understanding the movements he had seen.
Li-Fan then stepped back into ready position next to James and walked through the basic kata again. James mimicked her actions, almost a perfect mirror of her moves, with a few small flubs. In the last movement, James had shifted his foot too far and received a sharp blow to his leg for the mistake. The man winced at this, but otherwise kept his mouth shut, knowing that masters like Li-Fan expected nothing but obedience.
"Again. Properly this time," she snapped.
James just nodded and set himself in ready position once again and went through the kata. It took him several more tries before his movement was satisfactory enough to move on to another kata. Each kata was primarily about foot work and less about swinging his sword. James would have complained about this until he remembered something from his days of being tutored.
When it came to instruction, he was the one who was expected to listen and obey. It wasn't his place to question, as he was the student, not the master. When he was a master of his own in whatever field he pursued, then he could question the methods of others. Until that day came, his place was to listen and learn as best as he could.
Li-Fan was a bit harsh in her demands of proper form and footwork, but she was fair. More than once, James had either under stepped, or overstepped, which would earn him a blow on the offending limb. The blows were less frequent as he went on, as he knew that perfection was going to be expected of him. If someone as skilled as Li-Fan made enough of a fuss to train someone she didn't know, then there was a reason for it.
James continued on through the lesson, as painful as it was, but he then heard an alarm clock ringing nearby. Li-Fan stopped her movements, casually walking over to the source of the sound. She bent over and stopped the clock's alarm before standing up and turning to James.
"That is all for today. Meet me here again tomorrow, at the same time," she told him curtly.
With a nod, James then bowed and thanked his Sifu for the lesson before he headed off. Placing the practice blade back on the rack, James then picked up his own blade before he left. A buzzer sounded a minute later and James guessed that was the breakfast alarm. Smiling at the prospect of food, he headed on towards the mess hall to get some breakfast.
Li-Fan wasn't far behind him, as she too, was hungry after the lesson. She went into a different door than the one James entered. Since she was the First Officer, James assumed she was headed to the Officer's Mess. James continued on through the door and headed down to where he knew the mess hall was located. He got lost for a few moments until he thought he should follow his nose.
Doing this proved fruitful, as he found his way towards the mess hall in no time. James heard the people chatting and yammering as they walked. Chuckling, James found the group of people as they lined up to get themselves some grub. As the line moved, he heard familiar voices behind him and turned to see who it was. As luck would have it, the Black family was right behind him, lining up to get themselves some food.
"Good morning, Ernie, Mama Rae, Zhade!" James greeted.
"Morning Jim! Sleep well last night?" Ernie asked.
"As well as can be expected. Never slept on an airship, so it'll take me a while to get used to it," James replied.
"It does take a little getting used to, I'll say that. But, with enough... distractions, you'll find yourself sleeping like a baby in no time," Raeni said with a smile.
Ernie chuckled as he pulled his wife close and James couldn't help but shake his head. Seeing an older couple like them passionately in love with one another made James wish for something like that once he decided to get hitched. James then looked around, noting that the younger of the Black men wasn't there.
"What you looking for, son?" Ernie asked.
"More like who. Just wondering where Jr. is. Doesn't he take meals with you?" James asked out of curiosity.
"Normally, he does, unless he's working late on something. The boy... might have headed off to the workshop last night," Ernie Sr. chuckled nervously as they picked up their breakfast, which were bowls of oatmeal with blueberries in them. There was a small dusting of what looked like brown sugar on top, which did make the meal a bit more appealing.
"I told you we were being too loud! Especially you with your growling and rumbling like you did last night," Raeni admonished her husband as they got to a table to sit down and eat.
Ernie smiled lopsidedly, then stood up to go and get cups of coffee for everyone at the table, except for Zhade, who was too little for such a beverage. Ernie grabbed four cups, figuring that Jr. would be joining them soon. Not even a minute later, Ernie Black Jr. walked in, grabbed a bowl of oatmeal, and sat with his family and James.
