Private Duel Barracks/Imperial Condos I will make a numbersbeast out of you!

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman Lasichin was a beast of habbit, a beast like any other. But his habbits have served him poorly in bouillabaisse harber streets. He would look for turnabouts, landmarks from which roads and alleys would spread out, boards which would clearly tell him the street, but even such basics were often missing. It didn't help that streets here had very uninformative names. Noodle street apparently had a noodle stand somewhere in it, but that wasn't hard to see when he was there, unlike where it lead. Docks street didn't lead to the docks, in fact it ran parallel to them. None of them were numbered in any way, and there would be no good way to do so since there was no sense to the city's grid. Or at least, Herman gave up looking for it.

He got himself a pocket watch, a cheap-looking thing that did it's job well enough. It took some time adjusting to the 12 hours on its face as oppose to the complete 24 most watches in Varangland had. All of them did as much good however, they would distract him from preparations before it was time, and they would stress him out once the time past.

He didn't know what his job was going to be exactly. There were plenty of details missing from what he heard face to face at the ministry and the subsequent note he was handed. "Teaching basic arithmetic and trigonometry to a junior officer" raised many questions. How can one be an officer of any kind without knowing those things? He didn't investigate the matter much, but certainly the Vulpine Imperium had a mandatory basic education, a beast over the age of 15 should know it by that point. He couldn't imagine an enlisted officer would be a kit, that would be wrong and inappropriate on many levels. He found it hard to decide whether it would be worse if the officer was an innocent kitje spending his or her young days in the military, or an adult beast who needed someone to teach them how to add and subtract.

"Four en vijf, six......" he muttered to himself, taking yet another turn before finally finding it, the street he was looking for. He pulled out the note from the ministry of innovation's liaison and made sure he was at the right place. Yes, right street, right building, and now after looking around this hallway, the right apartment. The weasel knocked on the door. He hoped that being late wasn't going to cause as much trouble as it would have at the ministry.

(Private thread between @Herman Lasichin and @FinnianBrightfur, comments in direct messages or on discord)

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn lay on his bed, gazing vacantly at the ceiling. His mind played over his adventures on Urk -- sparring with Tultow on the beach. Running about with a sense of purpose, field kit slung over his shoulder, sword strapped to his side. Scaling the shrew, helping in the infirmary. Though the memories were difficult to think of at times, Finn cherished them while the cool spring breeze washed through the open window.

It was a lovely day. Quite the shame to be trapped inside too. Gates, but his bedroom felt like a prison at times.

Much to Finn's horror, Alwyn had insisted on finding him a tutor for educating him while not on the Hide. It was either that, or sending him off to the school with the other beasts his age. Though Finn tried to not look down on them... they still thought hoop and stick was a fun game.

They couldn't comprehend the thrill of adventure on the sea, or the surge of adrenaline when your opponent lifted their sword and lunged forward. Ugh, and their clothes were so... ...dandy! Finn couldn't bear it.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Finn chose the lesser of two evils. And so there he was. Imprisoned in his own bedroom, waiting for his own execution.

And then came a knock at the door, instantly driving him into fight or flight mode. But since beating up a mathsbeast was no sport at all (and quite a mean thing to do to a poor fellow who was only trying to help), Finn vaulted out the open window. Before he could consider the consequences of his actions, he had slid down the gutter and landed quiet as a mouse in the alley.

The alley that was a dead end, and only exited at the front of the building.

Finn whapped a paw to his forehead, and grumbled to himself. Nothing to do about it now, he absolutely must commit to his escape! But how to explain why he wasn't in the house? He'd just need to explain that he'd... ...gone out for lunch, and... ...Oh hang it all! He'd figure it out later!

Tucking his paws idly in his pockets, Finn tried to casually stroll past Herman waiting at the front door. He might have gotten away with it too, if he hadn't slowed his gait for a curious gaze at the mathsbeast. It was one of those sixth senses adults had -- they knew when they were being watched. As their eyes met, Finn's tail exploded like a firework, and he began a mad dash towards the nearest park!

"Nnnoooohohooo I don't wanna learn maaaathhh!!"

 

[Herman Lasichin]

herman waited for an answer. Something to shift around in the room. His ears were pirked, and they picked up on...a pair of paws falling on the pavement? As if that weren't strange enough, then he could feel a presence, something just out of his field of vision. He turned around and came face to face with a fox-shaped ball of condenced energy and kithood joy. Was the kit 8, 11? 14? Could it have been as old as 19, but blessed to keep its innocence and cursed with its diminutive size? Before his intellect could begin working on this puzzle, the solution was revealed to him by the foxkit, who wasn't yet tought the first rule of math etiquette: don't give away the answer when someone else wants to solve it.

"Oy there! No skipping class!"

herman ran after the young fox, running into the lightly crowded park in hot persuit. His physical abilities improved during his stay on board of the blackship, but his student clearly didn't skip any of his physical exercises. He couldn't catch him by being fast, but maybe he could catch him by being smart? He carefully tracked his target, trying to see a way to corner him and explain him the importance of arithmetic and geometry.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn's ears pinned back against his head as he heard the weasel calling after him. The sheer terror of the pursuit pumped adrenaline through his veins, and gave him a burst of extra speed. "Skipping!? I'm not skipping! I'm... ...uhhh!" Oh dear. Finn was very bad at making excuses. Fortunately, what he lacked in deceit, he made up for in agility. He was a fast little booger!

The park was rather small -- a little square just large enough for dibbuns to play, with a few scattered shrubs and trees. Counterintuitively, the park opening might work in his favor. Random passers by might take pity on him, and help him evade his torture? Skidding to a stop, Finn reached down to snatch up a particularly sword-like stick off the ground, and turned to face his pursuer. "You'll not take me alive, mathsbeast," he cried, and raised the stick into a hanging guard. "I'll have you know, I'm a trained swordsbeast! And y'can't kill cannibal shrews with maths!"

Though it was a somewhat aggressive posture... ...the foxkit prayed that Herman wouldn't take it too badly. There was another stick on the ground just within reach of his footpaw -- and as his instructor entered the arena, he gave it a gentle toss into the air for him to catch. "If you can best me, two out of three -- I'll take your class! ...but if I best you," he said, with a dramatic slash of his sword. "...you'll tell Alwyn I did great and don't need a tutor!"

 

[Herman Lasichin]

herman was happy the foxkit stopped running. But the troubles were far from over, since now it made a new desperate bid to avoid its lecture. This one certainly preferred fighting and physical activities, which herman could definitely appreciate. At least it didn't want to become a couchbeast when it grew up.

"Perhaps that's true, Sir Brightfox, but you can't hide your schemes from an honest and diligent numbersbeast! You are a fool for picking a fight with one, the assistent quartermaster of the blackship no less! As long as I hold the keys to the store room, no apple sap for you!"

herman easily matched the kitje's enthusiasm. Any misgivings he had, like the thought that rangling a fox with conduct issues or that this whole thing was far above his paygrade, were quickly washed away with the excitement he was feeling.

He looked between their two weapons. The little fox's was longer, thinner, while his was shorter and thicker. He was taller than the kit, but it was difficult to tell how strong he was. Herman felt like he shouldn't underestimate his foe, especially one that seem to be running on pure adrenaline and fear of numbers. He figured it wouldn't hurt to play along, but not without first teaching this kit about the might of the written word.

"but I accept your challenge, Sir Brightfox. Let me just jot down in here..."

He opened his notebook and wrote in it with his fighting stick, reading the words outloud.

"Alwyn, The student is a very naughty kit and very uncooperative. He jumped out of a window, yelled at me that he doesn't want to learn math, ran into a park and challenged me to a dual with sticks. I recommend reducing his rashions of toys, candy, nonfish fishsticks, and..."

Herman read the words out slowly, his eyes focused on the kit and its reaction. It was easy to tell from Herman's expression that he was having plenty of fun too.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn's fur bristled. The second he gripped the downspout, he knew he'd gone and set things into motion that couldn't be undone.

Just like the locket he threw.

His countenance fell, and his swordtip dropped sympathetically with his ears. It wasn't fair... Adults could fight in a way that he couldn't.

Sure, he could lunge forward, knock the notebook out of Herman's paws, and stop him from writing -- but what good would that do? It would just be another count against him at the end of things. And the verdict? A naughty kit.

But a sudden thought jumped to his mind, and he leveled his stick again. "Some quartermaster you are! So afraid of a little kit that he writes a contenjun... ...continjun... Contenjunsheee..." Finn flicked his sword in frustration. "A backup plan! Why you gotta be a tattle tale? Settle this like a man!"

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman felt a little bad for making the kit give up in such a way. It felt like he grabbed his arm and twisted it, he went for the easy cowardly move that would scare most dibbuns into acceptance. Seeing the joy drain out of the fox felt even worse, and his head bowed along with the kit's makeshift sword.

But the battle wasn't over yet, the naughty fox regained his strength and found a way to respond to his threat. He didn't want to let the story end like that. And Herman respected it.

"Contingencies are very good to plan out, especially when fighting those cannibalistic shrews you mentioned. One can never be too safe can he?"

Herman put his notebook back in his bag and finally made his last few steps towards the challenger, his stick held high and outstretched. He stopped right outside of Finnian's range, and said.

"On the count of three. One, two,"

Herman paused for a moment to catch any premature movement. He wasn't going to have a kit surprise him with the oldest trick in the book.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn bladed his body towards Herman in a very typical fencing pose. He took a wide stance, leading footpaw pointing at his instructor, and his backfoot canted out at an angle. "Hah! 'Safe' is for old biddies who clutch at their pearls! I'd like to have seen them fainting away at what we did on Urk!" he retorted, leveling his stick at the weasel's torso. "~Ooohhh~ Finny, that isn't safe my dear! Where's your helmet~?" he wailed in a falsetto voice.

The foxkit, true to his character, didn't lunge until three -- though the hesitation clearly threw his timing off. "...bad form, mathsbeast!" he chided, with a frown -- and at a brisk pace, he counted out, "One, two, three!"

Nimbly, Finn skipped forwards to close distance, and brought his sword against Herman's in a brief lock. The foxkit had an aggressive start, and yet, not a cocky one. Feeling for the weasel's motion, Finn disengaged. His stick drooped downwards under the mathsbeast's, and quick as a flash was up again as he sprang forwards to jab at his chest.

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman stood like he usually did. nobody ever told him there were fighting postures, and he survived the fights he was in doing nothing special like putting one of his hind paws ahead or whatever. This was very much in contrast with the fox kit, who must have read plenty of stories about duals and cannibalistic shrews, and was copying as many things from them as he can.

herman stopped the first blow from the kit, and then went for one of his own. The timing was perfect, lucky even, since the kit's snout and his stick met right half way, stopping both right in their tracks, one hurt more than the other.

"Oh sorry! Are you ok?"

Herman pulled his stick back, looking down at the place where he hit his student. It occurred to him that this game could get rough if he wasn't careful, and Finn was already hurt enough for Herman to lose his teaching license, if he was in Varangland where they have to invent stupid little problems like licenses. Here, consequences might be even worse, depending on what the parents of this kit think about this whole stunt.

"Ok, listen, I think we should stop this, before either of us gets hurt too bad, ok? Come on, arithmetic can't give you a throbbing snout now can it?"

The weasel tried to grin nicely at the fox. He hoped he was going to be sensible and take the second chance to abandon his violent and chaotic ways.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

At least to Finn, fencing seemed to be a bit luck of the draw. You made a bet on which move your opponent would choose, and attempted to be a few steps ahead.

And yet, whenever he went up against the older beasts at the guard, they whipped his tail time after time. Hmm. Perhaps he had more to learn.

"Yoww! Auugh!" he cried, recoiling backwards, and holding his face. "Why's it always my snoot?" he grumbled to himself, holding a paw over the bridge of his nose. He checked it for blood, before regaining his pose. (It was bleeding, just a little.)

"Hah! Typical schoolmarm!" he shot back with surprising confidence -- almost as if he hadn't lost the last match. (He was, after all, a Tough Little Biscuit™.) "I'll take a throbbing snout over a throbbing head, any day! But I think you're scared of a little kit! And I don't have time for little old biddies!"

Clearly, Finn had a bit of a superiority complex building from his time aboard the Hide. Although there was a bit of arrogance behind his words, there was also a great deal of playfulness. Lifting his sword again, the foxkit sprang back into his posture, and beckoned Herman to attack with a wave of his paw.

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman wasn't a violent beast. He thought violence was unnecessary most of the time and when it was, it needed to be used carefully, with planning and precision. And this whole game with the foxkit was anything but. He could smell blood before he saw it, and he seriously began thinking to quit it right there. It was just a cut fortunately and he knew little beasts could recover from those much quicker than bigger ones, but this was all silly. The fox was going to get his math lessons one way or another, with or without beating him in this duel. Only question was how forceful his parents would have to be to make him fold, and whether they were still willing to let Herman tutor him after wounding their kit.

But that would be then, this was now. His little foxy opponent was ready and eager for the next round, as if he were getting candy instead of bruises. It was hard to deny his kittish charm and enthusiasm, and Herman's ego wasn't going to let anyone think he was scared of a kit or wouldn't dare accept a challenge. Thus, the second round was on.

"Een, Twee, Drie!"

Herman wondered if counting out in Varangtong was bad form, but at least he didn't pause at the third like he did before. His shorter arm and weapon were going to be a great disadvantage, so charging at the kit directly was going to be foolish. He instead made an arc around Finnie, so that he was further away from his armed paw, and poked his student in the stomach right as he was beginning to react.

"I won two, no need for a third. Now let's put away our swords and pick up our pens, they will be far more useful where we are going"

Herman dropped his stick and kicked it away, and then looked around to find a bench for them to sit on.

"The weather is just beautiful outside, let's sit down there and talk like two peaceful equal civil beasts"

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Though Finn had little grasp of other languages, he did notice a slight accent. By 'Twee', he'd caught on to the weasel's gist. He loaded his weight on his backfoot, and leveled his sword again. The sweeping cut caught him off guard though, and despite his best efforts to parry the blow, Herman tagged him on the shoulder. The fight was over before it started.

Finn slapped a paw to his forehead with a groan. By the time he'd recovered from the emotional injury of losing so quickly, Herman had already dropped his stick, and was making his way over to a bench. The foxkit's jaw dropped to protest -- something about the sun in his eyes, or an unexpected puff of dust up the nostrils -- but it was no use. His word was his word. With a reluctant sigh, he dropped his stick on the grassy field, leaving it out in the open lest he have need of it again.

Trotting over to the bench where the numbersbeast sat, Finn lingered awkwardly. With his ears flushing red with embarrassment, he stuck his paw out suddenly to shake. "...you bested me. I'm a fox of my word. I'll... ...I'll do the lesson..." he said, ears drooping low.

Little did Herman know, if Alwyn had witnessed his poor performance in the duel, he'd likely have given him a raise.

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman didn't feel any joy at beating this little fox. It wasn't hard, it wasn't fun, and it especially wasn't nice for the kit who now had to go through a lesson while embarrassed and feeling disappointed in himself due to his poor showing. Well, the showing wasn't poor, Herman always appreciated those who would stand up to others and not give up, and also keep their word afterwards. But his student might not see it the same way.

"Let's start over again. I'm Herman, I was hired to instruct you in mathematics and trigonometry. It's much more fun than it sounds trust me, it's having fun with numbers and shapes and symbols."

The weasel smiled, the warmth flooding his voice as he talked about his favorite subjects.

"But there's something I forgot to let you say. What is your name, and what amazing things have you learned so far?"

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn's tail gave a half-hearted wag as they shook paws. Truth be told, Finn had an aggressive spirit that didn't like losing -- and there was a slight pout on his face. Though his snoot was sore, it served as incentive for him to train harder, and the fox wouldn't be too worse for the wear.

Terror and dread struck his heart mid pawshake. Four syllable words were tricky things to be wary of, but five syllable things were menacing and carried existential perils. Finn swallowed hard, and tugged his paw free with a hint of anxiety.

If this weasel found numbers to be fun, he was likely one of those twisted beasts from hellgates that the sailors mused about. Sadistic tormentors who enjoyed the suffering of their subjects. Finn's ears bent back submissively, and his formerly courageous heart melted like wax.

"I-I'm..."

Finn cleared his throat.

"...Finnian?"

Half credit, Mr. Brightfur.

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman could see his words didn't soothe Finnian at all. he should have just started off right away with the talk of numbers and shape, what did it matter if it was called mathematics or trigonometry? Herman wasn't quite sure what the first one meant himself, and the second one was misleading since it implied it was all about triangles. It was more about angles really. And cyclic processes, and circles.

"Oh, Finnian is such a nice name. Did you go to school before? What did you learn there?"

herman pressed on, not too hard he hoped. He didn't want to pull words out of Finn's jaws with pliers, especially not when it was the first questions ever. He needed to answer some much harder questions later on, not just to him, but probably others as well. Best he learn to do it early.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn's tail settled into a cautious sway, and he stuffed his paws into his pockets. The wary foxkit was still too untrusting to sit down on the bench just yet, and instead stood before his instructor. As if accessing a painful memory, he looked up over the nearest tree, and let out a deep huff. "Yeah... I went to school..." Thinking carefully, he tried to figure out just how little he could say while still answering the question. "...I stopped for a few years, but we did arithmatic... I can add and subtract, and do multiplication and division well enough..."

"I learned a lot of stuff on the Hide, too... though I didn't really need to do anything harder'n counting. Don't see why I gotta learn more math..." he grumbled.

 

[Herman Lasichin]

"The hide? The golden hide?"

Herman was getting confused, even a little worried. Finnian was playful before, he would have expected him to talk about going to urk and fighting shrews. But now he was as serious as any beast could be and he still talked about being in the navy? Was he so obsessed with the stories he read and imagined himself in that he couldn't tell them apart from reality? Should he poke further and find out? If the kit was so troubled then he was right, he didn't need more math, he needed a doctor, a priest, and his parents to help him recover from this infliction before it was too late. He wasn't experienced enough with any of those to be of help.

He decided to go around that potential landmine and remained focused on the topic.

"It's good you learned arithmetic, if you know it well the rest will come along easily. How about fractions? Did you go as far as that? What about squares and triangles?

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn caught the look of concern on the numbersbeast, but wasn't quite sure what to make of it. But adult's interrogations like this were never fun. They always found some clever way to make you regret telling the truth!

He imagined himself bound with rope, dangling upside down over a pit of fire -- trying to keep his composure while not betraying his friend's whereabouts and hoping for rescue.

"Oh, yuh... Squares..." he said, drawing a few basic shapes in the dirt with his footpaw. "I'm not daft, y'know!"

 

[Herman Lasichin]

Herman nodded at the shapes Finn made with his footpaw. They weren't squares nor triangles, they were many sided polygons and infinitely nontrivially differentiable closed curves, although the foxkit didn't know it yet. Maybe he will learn about it one day, maybe he will overcome his fear and end up loving the beauty of numbers and points. But that was far off, he needed to start from the beginning.

"Well, then I don't have to teach you much this first lesson. But just to be sure, I will ask you some questions, nothing hard, just to know what you need to be reminded of."

Herman paused for a moment, before beginning with his questioning. He would give Finn a chance to answer after each one, and regardless of his answer he would go onto the next one.

"What is the area of a square? What is the area of a right triangle? What is the circumference of a 3 meters by 4 tails rectangle? How much rope would you need to cordon off a 314 square leap area?"