Catlin rushed out of the rest area with Neely following close behind. There was a slight chance that Brisa was still at the shuttle port. Catlin scanned all of the people along the way just in case they passed her on the way. She was certain that Brisa would rather not talk to her, or even see her now. If she could see and know that everything was alright with Brisa, she would have peace of mind.
If anything had happened to Brisa, it was all her fault. Catlin had to know for sure that Brisa was safe. She convinced Brisa to wander the shuttle. Though camouflage and deception was used, she like what she learned about Brisa. She really wanted Brisa to succeed in her mission. So, she convinced Brisa to look like a warrior. Now, Brisa was in trouble because of it.
They had to find her. Brisa could be trapped, stripped, robbed, and left to wander the back alleys to become a target for some ruffian. In turn, the gear Catlin expertly made could be stolen by some insecure wannabe trying to get an edge.
The gear was enchanted to have many perks that would help Brisa get out of trouble. But, how was Brisa to know? Catlin had no time to demonstrate how to use the armor. Brisa couldn’t know about the features much less how to use them. There was a chance she learned one of them by now. Would that be enough?
Not seeing any sign of her on the way they started questioning the idle citizens. They would have noticed Brisa in her battle gear. Even in a place like this, someone was bound to recognize that hideous mantis hood. That and her short stature would leave a lasting impression on someone in town.
After a few minutes, they eventually found an old street vender that remembered seeing someone that fit her description. The pie maker saw her running into the city chasing another young lady.
Neely knew exactly what that meant, “That was probably the ganker.”
Catlin followed his logic, “Luring her into a trap.”
“She’s a smart girl though,” Neely said attempting to comfort Catlin, “We probably have plenty of time to find her.”
Was she that smart? Catlin doubted his assessment though Neely was usually right his with guesses. “We should still look for her.” She still wished she could still track Brisa. The bowtie heat signature wore off on the shuttle a long ago. Also, the armor protected against such things. They had to use the traditional slow way of finding Brisa. Still, they had to find her. If anything, Catlin needed to know that Brisa was alright and give the warning of prowlers.
—–
Brisa learned some basic moves from the trainers at the Sword Mastery School. It was a little awkward borrowing a training sword to learn the moves. It also seemed having to answer questions about learning short sword techniques when she was only armed with a huge maul and a pair of “daggers.”
Brisa loved her machete sized blades of enchantment. She wanted to tell them about her amazing blades but she held back the urge. They were rare and perhaps valuable enough to be stolen. She would have no defense from the highly trained warriors in the school. It would take little effort for them to muscle the weapons away from her if they knew the secret.
After getting her rudimentary training, she watched the skilled warriors practice again. One particular fighter was flipping around radically, seemingly defying gravity at times. Once or twice, he managed to change directions in the air. He even threw his sword at the target and commanded the blade to return to his grip with a hand motion.
“How long before I can learn to do that,” she asked.
“Oh, I didn’t learn all the moves here,” he said “I’m using some moves combined with others from the Kinetic-Potential Talent School.”
“Wow. Where is that?”
“Let me show you.”