Beinn 6.2
Not only was Katashi the top swordsman from the academy but he had the potential to be the greatest swordsman of his era. The Daicho were out and engaged with Jaala’s Yitte as the short pot-bellied man came upon him. The Yitte were blades just shorter than his smaller Kizahsi but with a prong for entrapping the sword if the opportunity presented itself.
In a normal duel Katashi might probe his opponent for weaknesses and keep him at bay while he developed a strategy to deal a decisive blow. However, he had meant all he said to the stout monk about his confidence in the man’s skill and he fought with a quiet fierceness meant to win quickly if at all possible against this deadly little man.
The one advantage Katashi had was that Jaala’s weapons were limited to two basic strategies of either negative tae to deflect and entrap, or positive tae to attack at close interval under the Ugatana’s longer reach. Jaala had briefly engaged in negative tae but against a true swordmaster this was a losing strategy and he had moved quickly into the attack.
Just as Katashi began to wonder if perhaps this man were not as skilled as he had imagined, Jaala slipped into a stance that seemed to spell his certain demise. His Yitte were no longer at the ready and he was at the perfect distance for the Ugatana’s reach.
Yet when Katashi struck, Jaala made an almost imperceptible movement that altered the Ugatana’s killing blow to a deep slash across the shoulder. The Kizahsi moved in concert with its partner blade, as the temple drummers wield their sticks, but its purpose to keep close to the body and shield any blows that might slip under the Ugatana. But Jaala made no move to strike Katashi, again only moving his body slightly so that Katashi impaled both hands on the Yitte.
Reflexively he jerked his hands back, dropping his swords, and wrenching the Yitte from Jaala’s grasp. They stood facing each other, Jaala bleeding from his shoulder and Katashi from his hands, their blades on the ground.
“What was that?” demanded Katashi, losing his composure as he had expected honorable death not this unorthodox maneuver ending in a weaponless stand off.
“Inert tae. Well, not exactly. A true master utilizes inert tae in its pure form. But that was as close as you will see for some time.”
“A master? But you did not defeat me.”
“Was that the goal?”
Katashi paused staring at the bald monk, breathing deep and steady. Jaala waited patiently. Ignoring the pain in his hands the best he could, Katashi slowed his breathing and emptied his mind. Closing his eyes he felt the breeze through the clearing cool the sweat on his brow, the high grass brush his calves, the throb of his hands, the blood drip down his fingers to the earth. Soon he separated himself from these things too. His awareness of Jaala remained but he grasped at nothing.
Opening his eyes he looked at Jaala. “Another path. Not a compromise or blending between two but an inherently different third way.”
“Yes. Good. Very good.”
“But why?”
“Because it reflects another path in this life. Not the one you follow nor that of those you call enemy.”
Katashi held his tongue for a moment. Before he uttered the words, he had to make sure. He sensed he could not go back. But then he would never feel whole knowing he had rejected a piece of existence out of ignorance. If it felt wrong to him he would cast it out, even if it meant his death, but to ignore it was wrong in its own right.
“Show me.”
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