Somewhere Beyond Chapter Two

Chapter 2: What Comes After

    Emerald awoke, and saw faint light coming in through her window. She sat up in the bed and yawned. Ian was right - she hadn't really felt tired, but she'd been able to fall asleep, and the sleep had made her feel refreshed. It's strange, she thought to herself, I'm dead, but compared to life... This place is a lot nicer. I know what happens when I die. I don't need to worry, or even care about it. Hehe, she thought as she grinned, been there done that.
    Emerald stood up, and took a look at the dresser. I wonder how someone can come back with an entire dresser? Or maybe they just came back with the wood? I guess I'll see how much Ian knows about fade industry, she thought with a smirk.
    She pulled open the draws. They were empty except for one, in which lay a ribbon. It wasn't a fade ribbon - and from the look of it, it was a bright red. She picked it up. It felt a little weighty, but still light. Looking in the mirror that sat atop the dresser, she tied it into the back of her hair around a ponytail; not in a bow, but dangling straight with one end knotted around.
    She wove it into her hair, happy that she was able to add a little actual colour to herself. Ugh, jealous of Ian already. It's a good bet he'll let me get in on his experiment - probably one of the reasons he's so happy for company, on top of his general demeanour - which is good because fuck slaving for a million years. And then, if I get lucky and don't get robbed, I might be able to be solid. Hah.
    Emerald moved to her window, and stared out. It's going to be hard getting used to yelling all the time, she thought. I wonder if there's a way to fix that? Hope so. If I get lost or something... I'd be pretty screwed. Guess I better not wander off into the woods alone, at least until I can tell the difference between these featureless trees...
    She looked out for a while longer, trying to tell the difference between the trees. Then she turned her back on the window, and left her room to find Ian.

    Ian was sitting at a table in the foyer, idly writing in a notebook. A machete-like blade lay beside the notebook. As Emerald began walking down the stairs, he looked up at her and smiled.
    "Good morning, madam," he said in greeting.
    "Good morning yourself, Ian," Emerald replied.
    As Emerald approached the table, Ian indicated the blade, and said, "This is the blade I spoke of last night. Hopefully you can lift it without too much effort."
    He stood, and handed it to her. Emerald took it in one hand, and nearly dropped it. It weighed less than the branch had, but she was sure it was too much for her to hold up for long. "This thing weighs a tonne!" she exclaimed, "How am I meant to wield this?"
    "With practice, and excercise," replied Ian. "You should not have much trouble holding it for a long time; fades tire very slowly, luckily."
    Emerald lifted the blade above her head, and let it fall downwards in a graceless swing. She was barely able to stop it from slamming into the ground, and she staggered slightly. Ian looked concerned for a second, and said, "Be careful with it! It will cut you just as easily as it will cut any other fade!"
    An embarassed, nervous smile appeared on Emerald's face. "Yeah, um, woops," she said, apologetically, "That was pretty stupid." She gently touched the blade with her other hand, and was surprised that the light touch had cut her skin slightly.
    "Wow," she said, wide-eyed. "Thanks for - for lending me this. It's amazing. I owe you... I owe you a whole lot now. If I can repay you for this, some how, some time, tell me and I will."
    "I give these things freely; do not worry yourself about repaying me. I would do the same for any other, if I could. One of the reasons I do my research so far from others is that I would be unable to help most of those I met - which would not be a pleasant experience," Ian replied. He stood up, and looked at Emerald.
    "If you wish, I can begin teaching you the basics of swordplay now," he said.
    Emerald thought for a moment, and then cheekily asked, "Is there anything else for me to do anyway?"
    "I could leave you in my library with books open, pages ready for you to turn, so you could learn more about this place; or show you the woods that surround this place and explain their nature and some of the more interesting features. Or even just leave you to your own devices, while I get on with my research."
    "Oh," said Emerald, "Cool. I think I'd like to learn how to use this first, though." Emerald lifted the blade up for effect. "All the talk of mad killers has got me a little paranoid for my safety, so I'd prefer to know what to do with this blade before anything else, really."
    "Very well," replied Ian. "Follow me. The ribbon suits you, by the way."

    Ian led her outside, and into a small clearing framed by trees that lay just outside his front door. He broke a branch off of a tree, and lifted it above his head. "I'll show you the basics with this branch first," he said. "This is high ward. Note how I've angled the branch straight up, instead of angling backwards or forwards. The angle helps a little with balance, but most importantly, this is the best position to strike from as you may quickly swing the blade down, with gravity aiding you."
    Ian held out the branch straight in front of him, at about waist height. "This ward is the best defensive position, but it is worthless to attack from. From here, not only is your blade directly between you and your opponent, but you can easily move into any of the defenses I will show you later."
    Ian shifted the branch such that his arm wrapped around his body and the branch was held behind his back. "This is called hidden ward. The more tricky moves performable from this position are only possible with a shield, as you can conceal what you are doing and shift your arm - " Ian stopped speaking for a second, as he twisted his wrist such that the branch moved from behind his back such that it was now pointing at Emerald. " - into one of good wards to attack from."
    Ian move the branch such that he held it out directly behind him. "This is the tail ward. It works best defensively, as I can take a step back and the time taken to move the blade will not hinder me much." Ian demonstrated, moving from the ward into a defensive position. "I can also attack from it, although not as easily."
    Ian pointed the branch at one of his feet, his right hand hovering just slightly to Emerald's left of his waist. She noticed that he wasn't standing normally - his feet were at right angles to one another, and he had spread his legs such that they lay about half a metre apart diagonally. "This is the fool's ward. It can be used to carry out blows against the lower body, and as a starting point for most defenses."
    Ian straightened up, and said, "There are several other wards as well, but here is the important thing about them - you will begin a fight from a ward, yes, but as you attack and defend from blows you will often end up in a ward - or needing to move through one to launch your attack. Wards are to be used as launching points for attacks, as you will find you often end up in one, and as ways to hold your blade to quickly defend against wherever your opponent attacks.
    "You should flow through wards as you fight, knowing which attacks and defences can be easily moved into instinctively." Ian stopped speaking, and shifted into his fighting stance. He swung the branch through the air, moving between wards via attacks, and sometimes switching into a defence against his imaginary opponent.
    Ian continued for a couple of minutes, before stopping and saying, "Most of what I know I can impart in a matter of months, but it will take years to master even what I can teach you. And to be truthful, there are many who can teach you far more than I in this world."
    Emerald wasn't sure what else to do except nod. "So are you going to show me how to stand and make sure I can get the wards right now?" she asked.
    "But of course," said Ian.

    Ian walked Emerald through each of the wards he had shown her, correcting her stance in each. "The names of each stance do not particularly matter, just that you know how to assume them," he said, when she was unsure of their names. She didn't have much trouble getting them right with Ian's help, but he said that she would eventually need to be able to assume any of them reflexively, and hopefully perfectly.
    He also showed her how to assume a fairly stable fighting stance. Starting with her heels together, she was to turn her right foot ninety degrees and take a step in the direction it faced, and take a step in the other direction with her left foot. After bending her knees a little, she stood fairly stably - and more importantly, was easily able to move around in any direction to dodge and out manouevre opponents.
    After Ian showed her how to take steps backwards and forwards properly while in the fighting stance, he said, "I think it is time for a little break. I will walk you through the basic attacks and defences next."
    Emerald put the blade down, grateful for a respite from carrying it. She actually felt a little tired, which was a suprise, considering how far she had walked yesterday. Then again, her arm would have given out long ago if it carried a similar weight when she had been alive.
    "It's hard work, this training business," Emerald said. "It kind of makes me glad that I take a ridiculously long time to tire now - although..." Emerald paused thoughtfully. "Why do I get tired at all, and why does it take so long?"
    "The general consensus is that your existence as a whole can get 'tired', in a sense, after excessive effort affecting the world. You also recover from this 'tiredness' fairly fast, so walking has no effect, but running would. Affecting non-fade objects seems to be a lot harder for fades - disproportionately so, from calculations based upon the weights of fade objects and normal objects. It might surprise you to know that despite everything feeling about twenty times heavier, compared to the equivalent fade object it is only about five times such," Ian explained.
    "So you know the numbers but not the exact reason?" Emerald asked.
    Ian chuckled, and said, "Yes, more or less."

    The pair continued to idly talk for a while. After about half an hour, Ian asked Emerald if she was ready to continue. Emerald stood up, and after stretching her arms and legs a bit, said that she was.
    Ian stood up, and held the branch above his head in high ward. "Eventually I will walk you through how to best perform each blow from any ward that it can come from, but first I shall show you them all from high ward."
    Ian swung the branch from above his head four times, aiming first at about shoulder height from his left and right, then at about thigh height. As he swung, he said "Outside high, inside high, outside low, inside low."
    "These four blows are generalised swings against an opponents upper and lower body, and are fairly straightforward. The most complicated part of them is the terminology - outside means outside your blade - so in my case, on the right. Inside is thus to the left of my blade."
    "That's kind of confusing," Emerald said.
    "Think of it like this - my left is inside my blade as my body is there. Outside is where there is no part of me. If I was left handed, it would be the opposite."
    "That's kind of really confusing now, but I think I get it anyway."
    Ian chuckled. "Don't worry about it too much." He returned his branch to high ward, and took a swing centrally, at head height. "That's the head strike, very straight forward."
    Ian once again raised the branch above his head. From there, he lowered his hand to his waist, and then raised his elbow and turned his wrist so that the branch pointed straight ahead. He stuck his arm out straight, carrying out a stabbing motion. "This is how to stab," he said. "Aim for the centre of the chest, or somewhere unarmoured, and be ready to get your blade out quickly."
    "That's the last of the basic attacks," Ian said. "Now, raise your blade, and copy the attack I make twenty times as I count."

    After bout half an hour, Ian had finished walking Emerald through the attacks. She had some trouble mastering the stab, although the simple direct strikes were fairly easy. Ian had been strict in ensuring that she didn't pick up any bad habits that would later haunt her in a fight.
    After a few minutes of rest, Ian said, "It is time for me to walk you through the basic defences. These are quite a bit harder, so do not worry if you don't get them immediately. Unlike the attacks, the motions often do not seem quite natural initially, although you should be able to do them reflexively after a little practice."
    Ian paused for a moment, thinking of where to get started. "Ah," he said, remembering something, "The defences, far more so than the attacks, need to be taught from different wards. The end position is the same, but the motions to get from each ward to the block varies significantly. I will teach you high first, however."
    Ian lifted the branch into high ward. From there, he twisted his wrist so that the branch crossed his face diagonally, as he took a step backwards. "This is one of two head defences. The other is more complicated, and less useful in most situations, so I will cover it at a later time. When you do this" - Ian returned the branch to high ward before continuing - "remember to keep your arm steady - you need only twist your wrist, like this."
    Ian slowly demonstrated the high block, then raised the branch straight once more. He moved his arm so that the branch pointed to his right, twisted his wrist so that it pointed straight down, then swept across his chest. "That is the block for blows against your inside high. There is an alternative."
    He returned to high ward, and then dropped his arm so that the branch was about waist height, but still pointing upwards. He swept it across his chest in a similar motion to the previous defence. "However, this block cannot quickly be moved to counter a blow beneath it," Ian said. He made a tugging motion with the  branch, indicating that his hand could go no lower.
    Once again in high ward, he repeated the first high block, but lowered the branch to his waist instead of leaving it at shoulder height. He swept it across his legs. "This defence is the defence for your low inside. As it is nigh identical to the high defence, you can easily choose to swap between them when you are struck at."
    After returning to high ward, Ian swung the branch in a circular motion - as if strumming an air guitar - that swept across his chest in the opposite direction of the other defence. "This defence will block blows against your outside high. Similarly," Ian said, pausing. He returned to high ward and repeated the motion, but instead swept the branch lower, in front of his legs. "We can block blows against our outside low."
    Ian straightened up, and said, "Both high defences can be used to redirect stabs, although which you should use varies depending on your current footing. Notice how I prefer to take a step backwards such that my sword hand is further from my opponent - if I step forward to attack from here, I have more reach as my sword as my sword hand is now above my forward leg.
    "This style works significantly better with a shield, as stepping backwards means that you can block with both your shield or sword as necessary, and forward steps may be accompanied by moving the shield out of the way so that you may strike. Now, raise your blade into high ward, and I will walk you through the defences."
    Emerald complied, grateful that Ian kept his rambling to a minimum. The practice and watching was okay, but the explanations were starting to get really boring...

    After walking Emerald through all the defences several times, Ian allowed her a rest. Looking at the sky, he said, "I believe we have time for another run through, if and when you feel up to it."
    Emerald breathed deeply, and said, "I'm exhausted. What's the chance of me not feeling exhausted soon enough? And I feel tired all over, not just my arms" - Emerald paused thoughtfully for a second - "which is obviously because I am, in the way I exist, tired, and my limbs are just strange expressions of that."
    Ian smiled, amused. Emerald said, "What? I can totally remember things, man!" Emerald laughed, and then asked Ian, "So why don't you guys have guns and things like that? Or other modern technology? You have some pretty neat stuff, but it's all... Kind of modern, but without electricity and all the computer stuff."
    "There are weapons like guns," Ian said, "but the absence of gunpowder, or an easy to reproduce replacement, has held it back. And the expensive replacements would be wasted on fade swarms, despite their effectiveness, so the weapons are only used on beasts, and those like myself.
    "As far as electricity goes... It does not work here. Nor does magnetism. None that I know of know why. There are similar, though more bizzare, forces and fields, but we have not discovered an equivalent of electricity - nor enough of any kind of common fuel but wood to operate a power station, should we discover such.
    "And without electricity, and electrical components, there are no computers. There are some similar devices, made by those with access to many magical resources; but the sheer expense - combined with factors like the size of the world - make any kind of 'internet' as it is called impractical.
    "There are factories, though, and some are automated through clever use of mechanical devices. Attempts to refine wood into a stronger fuel have borne some fruit, and there are some planes and blimps in the sky in some places. Cars, sadly, are nigh unknown, as this place's few roads are mostly ancient and overgrown."
    "Why sadly?" asked Emerald. "Haven't you never seen one? You're from the eighteen hundreds, I thought..."
    Ian smiled, and said, "Maybe three hundred years ago, I travelled and saw the car collection of one like myself. Few had working engines, but the feeling of driving one of those... It was amazing. Perhaps, when my research is done, I will build myself one and a road to drive it on."
    "Were they like... Old cars? From the nineteen-twenties or something?"
    "No. They were recent cars, and mostly 'sports cars', from what he told me. They were... Magnificent. Replicas, and different from those in the living world, but incredible nonetheless," Ian enthused.
    "Huh. Do you find it strange to learn about all sorts of stuff you'll never see?"
    "It occurs so slowly that it's hard to notice. Fifty years here is fifty days in the living world, meaning we here of discoveries not long after the news starts spreading. And mathematicians here are a bit further than those that are alive, anyway, because they've had so much time to calculate. Excluding optimisations for computers and a few similar, no longer applicable fields, as far as I know."
    "Is there stuff here that's like nothing I've seen while alive?"
    "There are some things; created with the strange, nigh magical minerals and metals that have been found. The solidification machine, for one, and empowered weapons for another. I was once shown a ring that could actually shoot balls of fire; though they were not particularly effective. The most common devices are equivalents of useful things in the living world, such as a magical radio replacement, water purifiers and concentrators, and image recorders.
    "The only common, seemingly absurd things would be," Ian paused as he thought, "the anti-gravity devices (that vary from load-lighteners to assist fades, through to floating/hovering rigs), some defensive devices that can recognise those they should let through in some impossible fashion, and ... Little else."
    "Those sound... Kinda weird. You're not pulling my leg or anything, right?"
    "No, Emerald. Though I would be happy if I could say 'there are devices that exist to help fades live more normally, instead of like a subservient, handicapped underclass'."
    "You're a bit obsessed about that. I mean, I'd be pissed if I was living like that, but... I don't know. I'd be okay with how things are in the city you've talked about, although maybe not other places..."
    Ian grimaced. "It's... Very bad in some places. And I care a lot. But I should rein in my ranting. There is more to this world." Ian paused, and then said, "And a lot of things I should teach you, if you are willing. It slipped my mind as I rarely use it, but there is a sign language used by most local fades to communicate."
    "Because we can't hear each other?"
    "That, and also because only about a third in this area can speak English, and not all well. And yelling in someone's ear is pretty hard when there's more than one someone."
    "Huh," said Emerald, thoughtfully, "I totally forgot about the whole 'different languages' thing. That's kind of embarassing. I guess I always assumed everyone would speak the same language in the afterlife?"
    Ian smiled. "The assumption is fairly common. English is used as a common language among those like myself, simply because most who arrive these days know it, or some of it, due to the power the United States holds. Those who have been here longer either almost exculsively speak one of the fade sign languages - they vary by area, sadly - if they are a fade, or a large number of languages, if they are like myself."
    "How many can you speak?"
    "Seventy-three. Mostly European languages, due to where we are - this is where I tend to stay. My native tongue is English, as you can probably guess from my name, although in life I also spoke some French."
    "Wow. That's... Whoa. Seventy-three?"
    "Over a very large number of years, however. And quite a few are a bit rusty. It was necessary for my travels to learn them; most like myself only know ten or fifteen - or fewer if they have arrived more recently."
    "If I'm here for long enough, could you teach me a couple? Might be handy sometime. Or maybe some of the other sign language dialects?"
    "If you are willing to learn, I can teach you. But are you rested? Shall we continue?"
    Emerald stretched her arms out, and rose to her feet. "Alright," she said, raising her blade.

    Ian walked Emerald through all the wards, attacks, and defences again, helping her to get them right. A couple of hours later, the training complete, Ian looked up at the sky above. "We have perhaps thirty minutes of usable light left, but I suspect you would prefer to retire now," he said.
    Emerald looked at him, almost glaring. "You have no idea," she said, tired to the bone. "I feel like I could sleep for years. Anymore effort and I'll curl up in a ball and die or something."
    "I can prepare the bath for you, if you would like. You might feel better without the dirt and dust that is clinging to you at present, weighing you down."
    Emerald looked at Ian incredulously. "A bit of dust can really weigh me down?"
    "With the dirt stuck to your shoes, and in your clothes, you have more or less gained a kilogram or so of weight, relatively."
    "That's ridiculous. But a bath would be nice." Emerald paused for a second before continuing with, "Hey, do you have any other fade clothes around?"
    "A few items, actually, but I doubt it will fit. There is enough of several fade cloths - that I possess for my experiments - to make some clothing; and I could make an attempt if you desired. I spent a couple of years assisting a tailor, though that was... Very, very long ago."
    Emerald smiled. "I might be able to adjust whatever's lying around, but don't worry about making me something. Do you have any books about sewing and stuff?"
    "Perhaps a couple. I shall leave them open for you tomorrow morning, along with the cloth and some tools, for use as you desire. I will be dealing with some of my more... Fragile, and dangerous experiments tonight and likely through the first half of tomorrow, so you I'll be leaving you to your own devices anyway."
    "Neat! It's... Kind of amazing how much there is to do, when you really think about it. With all the time ever." Emerald grinned.
    "I will go prepare the bath. You will enjoy it - it is setup to be automatically kept warm, and the water can be kept clean for months through another system. Quite an amazing luxury device, and one I am very happy to own."

    Perhaps twenty minutes later, Emerald stood before the bath, in the middle of a square of curtains, there to preserve her modesty. She could push through them with a little effort, and they were needed as the door itself had been left open slightly to accommodate her.
    She took off her clothes, and rinsed them in the bath. She watched as the dirt that floated off slowly dissipated, the cleaning mechanism - some strange configuration of bizzare materials - attracted the dirt, and filtered it out. She lay the clothes on the rail surrounding the bath, where they would be warmed, and dried by the same heating mechanism that warmed the water.
    Emerald dipped one hand in, and sighed happily. The water was warm, and felt pleasant against her skin. She hopped in the bath, and lay down with her head above the water, relaxing. Within a few minutes, she had dozed off, and lay asleep with a calm smile on her face.