Description
Panel One: Wide shot. The interior of the gym building next door. It's identical to the other once, with a stage at one end and an elevated running track, except there are no basketball hoops. Instead, there are blue dividers on the half we can see, filled with students in fencing gear. They're doing drills, getting their gear together and sparring with each other. The fencers are wearing all white uniforms, with hooded fencing masks and steel armor on top. Each one has a mask, armored gloves, a breastplate, and a gorget. In the middle of a group is the teacher, a Fencing Elite, wearing all black and with a bamboo sword ready to stop matches. They are watching two students spar. Above all of this, in the background, are Cal and Zane, along with some other students, walking leisurely on the elevated track and looking down on the activity below. "Are those metal blades?" Cal asks. "Yeah," says Zane, "But they've got a rubber tip, and everyone has armor." "That's so cool!" says Cal.
Panel Two: Medium shot of Zane and Cal. Cal looks confused and asks, "But why is this gym full of swordfighters and people doing martial arts?" Zane gestures as he exaplins, "Well, self-defense skills are required."
Panel Three: In the foreground, two students in white martial arts uniforms start to square off. Behind them are other students sparring or watching, and the dividers keeping the hand-to-hand fighters away from the fencers can be seen. Cal and Zane's backs are to the viewer, and they're once again in the background as they talk. "It can be dangerous out in the field," Zane says. "True," Cal agrees.
Panel Four: Another medium shot, this time from behind Cal and Zane. Over their shoulders and the track railing the other half of the gym, with pairs of students practicing hand-to-hand fighting, can be seen. The wooden floor is covered in a multitude of rectangular mats pushed together to make one big, padded area. Cal says, as he watches the sparring, "My dad taught me some things, in case I ended up doing any trading on the road." Zane shrugs a bit and says, "Yeah, most bandits run from Carrier wagons, but shit happens."
Panel Five: Medium shot of the pair. Zane points over the railing and says, "Look, there's DJ!" Cal grabs the railing and stares, his eyes wide. "What?!"
Author Note
Yes, field crews are required to know how to defend themselves and their patients! Various forms of hand-to-hand combat, weapons forms, and projectiles all count as self-defense, and every student learns at least one.
Fun Fact - There are over 40 individual characters on this page! @_@ I've never done such an involved crowd scene, but I really want you to know exactly what's going on in this gym class. My wife and kiddo are both fencers, so I had a lot of help in designing the gear, and Evie helped me pick out good sword designs for what they're doing. I'm personally more familiar with the other half of the gym. ^_^
- Bran
