The Light Of Day (Ishkaral)

[Corvus]

53rd of Fall, 511 Alvadas was a strange city and Corvus was afraid he wouldn’t find what he was looking for in the maze of buildings and streets. He hadn’t known much about the place before he’d gotten there, now he wished he’d taken the time to find out more about where he was going before he’d come. He had no idea how to navigate the constantly changing streets of the city and his human form made him restless; the tanned skin didn't stretch across his bones right. He sighed, pulling himself up beside a the solid wall of a nearby building and stretched out the kinks in his legs. His mind was already tiring of trying to keep his body functioning the way normal bodies are supposed to. He sat down on the ground with a thump, sliding down the rough face of the building behind him. He sighed with relief when his weight settled onto the hard ground, giving him a chance to relax his will. He put a hand to his face to shield his bloodshot eyes from the scorch of Syna’s rays. She was bright and full, meaning he had a lot of bells ahead of him before he could hope to seek the sanctuary of Leth. Corvus was going to have to figure out where he was headed or he was going to wear his human form out, trudging weary circles around the city. Closing his eyes, he turned his will inward, seeking the solace of a light meditation to recharge him and help him find direction before he got up again. He relaxed the rest of his body and let his thoughts drift from his mind. The curtain of stillness began to descend, reminding him the peace of darkness always lingered inside. Thud. He remained dreamily between his half meditative, have conscious state and did his best to block out the noise. Regrouping, he dived back towards that place in his mind that he craved. Thud. The second thud reverberated through the wall behind him, shaking him. Corvus’s eyes fluttered open, a whole new agitation coursing through his veins. Even if he could block out the noises, he couldn’t block out the voices that were floating out of the building, barely muffled by the thin wall. He struggled to get his feet out from under him, wobbling as he attempted to stand. He took a deep breath and tried again, using his hand to anchor himself to the wall. His pale gaze searched the building behind him. The words Martial Arts: Sanctus Peccator were scrawled on a light brown board hanging above the door. His thick brow raised, and he wondered if maybe he’d found what he’d been looking for after all. He rapped his knuckles against the door.

[Ishkaral]

Deeply focused and without any distractions, Ishkaral was in the clear to practice to his heart's content. First things first though, he walked over to the scattered piles of padded armor and protective gear and put on the padded leggings, gauntlets and vambraces before he walked over to the center of the room and started stretching. He should've done this before putting on the padded armorpieces but he had forgotten to do so, so he just stretched with them on and endured the mocking insults of Eshacro while doing so.

" Enough, you're not a ballerina ... And if you were, you'd be a fugly one... "

Ishkaral couldn't help but laugh at that while doing his last stretching exercise.

" Done? Good. Let's start with some basic shadowboxing, one enemy and I'll declare it. "

" Ok. "

Ishkaral stood, as usual while doing this training, in a casual unguarded stance and closed his eyes to try and clear his mind so he could focus and really get into the training.

" INNER LOWKICK! "

Ishkaral reacted through evasion by jumping backwards.

" Fool, don't create distance against a single opponent, block with the knee of your other leg. "

" I'm s--- "

" HIGHKICK "

Ishkaral reacted painstakingly slow due to his cut-off response, he had lifted both arms to block the imaginary kicking attack to his head even, resulting in another crude and annoyed remark from Eshacro.

" What the shyke are you doing Ish ? Don't block with both arms, block with one and retalliate with the other! "

Ishkaral was starting to get annoyed with the tactless yet accurate comments from Eshacro, this time he was ready for Eshacro's attack and even stood in defensive position already.

" FRONTAL MIDKICK! "

Ishkaral reacted fast and by instinct this time, guarding his torso by pressing his 2 arms together and protecting his stomach by lifting his knee in front of the guarded area. He also managed to please Eshacro by not stepping backwards but immediatly following up by a step towards the "attacker" and responding with swift and short jabs at the height of his own face.

" Good, but don't forget to put your shoulder into those jabs, no need for alot of power when you hit a soft spot like the nose but make it hurt even when you miss the nose! "

" Ok! " Ishkaral responded, clearly with a tone of voice that screams annoyance by Eshacro's constant remarks and criticism of his fightingtechniques and ability.

" What? You rather train alone? Fine, go petch yourself and train on your own. "

" Fine, whatever! "

Ishkaral then proceeded to approach the advanced training dummy and practicing his jabs to the face, hooks to the body and kicks to the innerthighs/ribs/plexus/outerthighs/...

Annoyed by it all, Ishkaral cut loose, punching as hard as he could until the wooden puppet started to show slight dents and cracks. His innate Akalak strength didn't help prevent that either.