The
Convention of Conventions
By:
Sinead
Part
Three
It
was winter vacation. Snow was all over the place. I sighed, and looked out the
window. I haven’t had a decent time to practice, since I’ve taken on
Dinobot. He’s never speaking to me, other than the usual one-word answer. Slag
those antisocial cretins.
He
was on my bottom bunk, reading one of my books or another. Whatever. I’ve
given him permission, anyway. Finally though, I snorted, and put on a thin, but
warm, winter jacket, thin leather gloves, and a knitted cap. I knew that Dinobot
was watching my every action, disapprovingly. I walked over to my closet, and
snatched out a practice white oak boken, a Japanese practice sword, then stalked
from the room, slamming the door after me. Mom watched me as I walked outside,
calling, “Lunch in half an hour!”
“’Kay!”
I yelled back, and closed the back door after me, breathing in the crisp air. I
sighed, and looked around the backyard. There was only about four inches, but
that was normal for the coastline towns. I leaned the boken up against the shed,
and stretched my arms out, then shoulders. With another sigh, I closed my eyes,
and calmed my nerves. Why did I care whether or not Dinobot talked to me? Why do
I care whether or not he trusts me?
Because
you want to trust him, came the reply from within. Because you care about him,
as you care about your other friends.
I
opened my eyes, and picked up the boken. Its weight was reassuring in my hand,
and I swung it around twice, before settling into a position. I went through
others slowly, making sure that I wasn’t missing any details about the
placement of my arms or legs. I sped up, and started to whip the oaken staff
around me, still careful of its placement. I stopped once I was out of breath,
for a moment’s rest. I closed my eyes again, and slowed my breathing and heart
rate. Once they were back to their normal levels, I felt peace envelope me
again. I took a deep breath, and held it, then released it after a count of ten.
With my eyes closed, I felt another pair of eyes watching me, from higher up.
Dinobot.
I
sighed impatiently, then realized my mistake, and immediately slowed myself down
again. Don’t give in and screw up, Sinead. You know he gives no second
chances. And whatever you do, don’t look up at him!
I
took off my hat and gloves, then stripped the coat off, placing them in the
snow. I was hot, anyway. I took up the staff, and walked to a new spot in the
backyard, more in the center. There was a whistle, and I looked over my
shoulder, to see Sapphire and Rattrap. I raised my sword-shaped staff in a
warrior’s greeting, then closed my eyes, concentrating, and took up a starting
position. From there, I went through every difficult move I knew. Both my feet
and the staff kicked up powdery snow, sending it flying back up into the air.
I whirled, and continued the moves while facing another direction, then
integrated two moves into one.
I
did I back-flip, my “sword” slashing from my left to my right and back again
before my feet even touched the ground. I landed squarely, my left arm straight
out, sword-arm bent at the elbow, yet level with my shoulder. Before I had
finished, in order to slow the momentum, I had the staff swing my arm almost
fully straight, before flicking my wrist, and causing it to swing in a circle,
ending in the position I had described before.
I
relaxed, lowering my arm, and a hand took the staff from my own. I whirled, but
couldn’t do anything, as my arm was twitching slightly, as it normally does
after a strenuous exercise. I was facing Dinobot’s lower chest. I looked up to
see his face. “Would you mind giving me my boken back?”
He
shook his head. “Not if you’re going to continue training. You mother sent
me out to get you for lunch.”
That
was the longest answer he’s given me, since we’ve met. I was immediately
suspicious. I glared at him, and he handed it over, but didn’t walk away. My
glare was replaced by some sort of expression, that was somewhere between
disbelief, and . . . something. Even I didn’t know what I was feeling.
“Wait a second. What’s happened here? You’re actually talking to
me, not sneering, snarling, growling, or giving me a one-word answer. Who are
you, and what have you done with the Dinobot that I met at the convention?”
Rattrap
screeched a rather profane reply to that, and I looked around Dinobot at
Sapphire. “There’s only one place where he could have learned that .
. .”
Sapphire
only grinned sweetly at me, then wrapped an arm around Rattrap’s neck, placing
a sloppy, sappy kiss on his cheek. I sighed, shaking my head. Dinobot growled.
“We’ll talk about that later. And no excuses. Your mother wants you
to eat.”
He
turned, and walked back into the house. Sapphire shoved Rattrap after him, and
came over to me. “Okay, what happened here? I thought you two weren’t
talking.”
I
sighed, and shook my head. “Really, I dunno. That’s what I was
thinking, too.”
We
walked into the house together, not really understanding what was on that
warrior’s mind . . .
It
was our first day back to school, and I was at my bus-stop. Miss Special’s
mother dropped her off, and she and Inferno walked over to us. “I guess that
Dannn’s gonna hafta sit with his other pal today.”
I
grinned. “You mean, for a lot of ‘today’s.”
She
grinned, and the bus came. The driver was glaring at us in the mirror, but I
couldn't have cared less. I was making a rough sketch of how I did a normal
routine, and Dinobot was pointing out both flaws and strong points. I nodded to
both, knowing that my official training had ended when the teacher threw me out,
since I asked too many questions. When I had told Dinobot that, he snorted, then
replied, that that was the only good way to learn anything.
As
each student got on the bus, they renewed my memory of a few surprise curses
that I had half-forgotten. Miss Special was grinning behind me, I could tell, as
Inferno was glaring at anyone who looked too closely at the “High Royalty.”
Dinobot
was sniggering at a comment I had said, when I was dope-slapped by someone. I
turned to face forwards, to see one of my friends sitting in the seat in front of
me, and grinned. “Lady Venom! Hey, where have you been?!”
She
grinned lopsidedly, and replied, “Oh, you know, here, there, all over the
place. Paint-balling, making snow forts, you name it . . . whoa. Wait. Isn’t
that . . . uh . . . Dinobot?”
I
shrugged, and nodded. “Yeah.”
“And
when did this happen?” Dannn asked, immediately suspicious. Of course, he had
been too engrossed in fawning over his new camera to pay any real attention to
me.
I
shrugged, and grinned to Miss Special. “Oh, you know how it is over Christmas
vacation. You find things, you meet people, and you make friends with those
people, and you name it, it’s happened to us over this vacation.”
Miss
Special glared at Inferno. “Not to mention having to explain to my mom why
there was a scorch-mark on the new carpet. I swear, he flips out on everything
that’s anything, if it seems to be a threat to me. Any ideas why?”
Dinobot
snorted, trying not to laugh. I grinned to behind me, at Miss Special, and said,
“It’s what you call a stuffie. You hit it, you throw it up against a wall,
and it comes back to you, still smiling. Do you know why?”
“Do
I want to know why?” she muttered under her breath.
“Because
you are the Princess, and he is the doting little love-sick commoner that wants
her.”
Dinobot
was shaking, trying not to laugh. Miss Special and Inferno had come over often
enough, even when Dinobot and I hadn’t been talking to each other, and he knew
how Inferno had acted around her. “Such the poet, isn’t she, Miss
Special?”
“Shaddup,
Lizard-Lips. Go to the Pit.”
Dinobot
grinned over his shoulder at her. “Who’s to say that I haven’t already?”
I
laughed. “My friend had a key-chain that said, ‘Heaven doesn’t want me,
and Hell’s afraid that I’ll take over.’ Does that describe you?”
“Perfectly,”
Dinobot snarled in return, his voice low and evil. “Oh, so perfectly.”
Miss Special groaned. “Why do I have the feeling that this will be a long couple of weeks?”