From Queen to Kaati

It’s miserable outside so what better way to get the blood pumping than with We Will Rock You, by Queen. 🙂

And now, to prove that I have actually been doing something other than just cruising the youtube channels, here is a short scene featuring Kaati.  There is a very short fight scene at the end, and I’m really proud of it. I checked it out with a real martial arts expert [T.D. McKinnon] and it was given the green light! [I just knew my obsession with Bruce Lee would come in handy one day].

***

Kaati was crouching with its head down a waste pit, pinging to see if the hole led anywhere, when disaster struck.

“Ho! What doing there?”

The young Trader froze, its thoughts racing. As it straightened up, the small personal pouch hanging from its neck swung against its chest.

“Dropping credit,” it said as it turned to face its interrogator.

The drudge’s eyes travelled to the small pouch hanging from Kaati’s neck and stayed there.

“How losing credit when pouch still being tied?”

Kaati’s hand reached defensively for the pouch before it realised how pointless the gesture was. Throwing back its shoulders, it glared at the drudge.

“Calling a liar?”

“Ki,” the drudge replied, its gaze shifting to the ground by the young Trader’s feet. “Calling thief.”

Kaati did not need to follow the direction of the drudge’s gaze to know what lay by its feet. It was the broom, the broom it had stolen from the stores. It had meant to return the broom to its hiding place at true-dark, but had been in a hurry, and had wanted to check one last waste pit before returning to its own hiding place for the night. It had thought it was safe because all the drudges were at their evening meal. All but one, apparently.

“Hearing gossip about someone attacking guard to steal broom,” the drudge went on, “but not believing, until now.”

When Kaati still did not say anything, the drudge rolled its shoulders, and dropped into an aggressive crouch.

“Thinking healers paying well for capture of such a thief.”

Kaati had never been the best fighter amongst the apprentice Tellers, and had never fought a real fight to the death. Nevertheless, it had fought, and won, enough mating battles during the gathers to know the iVokh opposite could never win, not against a Teller.

The eyrie-bound was tall, and well built, but most of its bulk was fat, not muscle. And the way it crouched in one spot spoke of over-confidence. It would charge like a to’pak, relying on bulk and momentum to deliver a knock-out blow.

As the drudge lowered its head and bunched its powerful leg muscles, Kaati subtly shifted its weight to the right foot, and clasped its hands together at chest height, as if hoping to protect its face.

The drudge leapt with a roar of triumph.

Moving with studied grace, Kaati spun on its right leg.

The drudge barreled through the empty space where the young Trader should have been.

As the iVokh passed, Kaati brought its clasped hands down on the back of the drudge’s neck, just below the spot where the neck met the skull.

There was a sharp crack, and the drudge collapsed. It slid across the ground for a wingspan before coming to a halt just fingers from the lip of the pit. It was not dead, but its neck was broken. One terrified eye stared up at Kaati as the young Trader picked up a rock and put it out of its misery.

***

I appreciate this scene is a bit out of context, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 🙂

cheers

Meeks