Introductions? How about my fist instead? (Almech)

[Kale]

Fall 40, 511 A.V. Kale could hear his heart thudding quickly in his chest. The sound filled his ears. The gladiator took a step back from the wooden practice doll. It had various slender limbs protruding from it at various angles. At its base it was secured to the ground. Kale looked up for a moment at the stone ceiling above him. Through the layer of stone he could hear the faint roar of the crowd above. The area he was standing in was used almost solely by those that participated in the matches above. Most of the fighters held no ill will towards one another when outside of the arena. They knew what they were getting into then they fought. There was no sense in taking it outside the coliseum. Kale reached up and wiped away the sweat breaking out across his skin at the sudden lack of movement. Kale moved back towards the wooden dummy and started his combinations again. A palm strike to the upper right caused the fall to swivel in the opposite direction, one of the protruding wooden limb to race towards him from the opposite direction. That attack he promptly blocked with his left forearm and countered with yet another palm strike. This time the wooden doll retaliated from the other direction. This was what it was made for. As soon as you attacked your opening was attacked. It was a practice meant to help minimize the openings you created during attacks. The gladiator moved around the wooden contraption. His movements were as fluid as water, his feet like those of a dancer. He moved effortlessly around the doll. An attack to the left, twisting and ducking under the higher placed limb as it moved through the space that Kale’s face had previously occupied, positioning his forearm to guard against the lower attack aimed for where his gut would have been had he not been kneeling. Without thinking Kale balanced on the balls of his left foot as he rose, twisting and planting his right foot squarely in the middle of the practice dummy. There was an audible popping sound and splinters went flying as a cavernous crack appeared in the dummy. Kale swore to himself and stepped back. He had gotten carried away again.

[Almech]

It was early in the morning when Almech entered the training grounds under the coliseum he was still kind of tired, but he didn't think much of it. He had a job to do in a short while, his next gladiator fight, but he was worried he wasn't loose enough at the moment. He noticed a man really going at it with a training dummy, he was obviously more skilled than Almech was himself, cracking a solid piece of wood like that "Impressive" he said. He walked towards the man and inspected the dummy closely "Very impressive, do you have a name?" he asked with the smile he'd been working on, just a normal smile, he'd seen others do it, but he had a difficult time mimicking it. This man looked very strong, and seemed to know more about fighting than he did, at least, in a bipedal fighting sense.

[Kale]

Kale had been so absorbed by his practicing that he had not even noticed the man watching him. As he stepped back from surveying the damage to the practice dummy he began to feel the prickling on the back of his neck that told him he was being watched. He tried to stop and listen, feebly attempting to hear the breathing or scuffling behind him that might tell him if he was in immediate danger or not. His efforts were futile. Between the thunderous thudding of his heart in his chest and the sounds being made by other practitioners about the training area he could not hear anything that might give away someone's presence. Kale tensed his muscles and turned around. What he saw surprised him. It was not necessarily the fact that it was a man nor that he was attempting to smile that surprised Kale. It was the size of the man. Admittedly Kale had fought a few large men before. This man however, was clearly a half a foot taller then any man he had fought in quite a while. The gladiator banished such thoughts from his mind as the larger man began to approach him. He did not remember inviting the man over. Kale had no problems about interacting with others. He simply liked for people to state their intentions before entering his personal little bubble. The warrior allowed for his muscles to calm and let out a breath he had not known he had been holding. The warrior looked away from the large man and bent down to pick up a piece of cloth. Before he responded to the larger man's comments he ran the cloth over his forehead, clearing it of all the excess liquid that had been pooling there as a result of his practice in such a sweltering place as this. It did not matter if it was fall or not. With the number of other gladiators warming up and training there that morning, the place was an oven. He let the rag drop to where it had previously been laying and lifted a flask that he had previously sat on one of the dummies next to the one he had broken. He opened it and took a hefty swig of the liquid inside. It might have only been water but the its cool sensation as it wet his parched throat tasted better then wine at that moment. Reluctantly he removed the rim of the flask from his mouth and placed it's cork back in. He knew the dangers of consuming too much water when allowing his body to participate in such quick movements in such a hot place. "Me name is Kale", he said to the man without turning to look at him. "Is there something ye needed? I doubt ye came over simple for me good looks."

[Almech]

Almech cocked his head, the way a dog does when they're trying to get attention, except this was out of confusion, his good looks? Almech cleared his throat "It's my understanding that when introduced, men shake hands, the name given to me is Almech". He extended out his hand, still trying to smile, but failing miserably at it. He was pursing his lips and combined with him trying to spread the corners of his mouth towards his ears, it looked as if he was trying to keep from vomiting. He wasn't sure what to make of this man just yet, all he could tell was that he needed to warm up and this man looked like he would be quite sufficient at helping him out. He looked to be much older than Almech, perhaps he could learn something from this man, Almech gulped await Kale's reply. He was smart enough to know bigger wasn't always better, otherwise he may well have been arrogant about their obvious difference in size.

[Kale]

An eyebrow raised in response to the man's odd head movement. That was an odd reaction to his statement. Kale shrugged to himself. It was none of his business how the man acted. He had begun to turn away from this latest annoyance when the man stated his name. The short gladiator almost let a groan escape from his lips. This is the guy that Shale had sent him to wait for. It had been many years since Shale had sent Kale into his first match with a partner. Since then he had gotten into the habit of forewarning Kale when this was going to happen. The warrior turned back around, facing his would be companion. He eyed him over more carefully this time. The man was large that was true. Judging from what he saw, this Almech fellow was decently muscled. He had enough to cause his blows to pack damage but they were not large enough to weight him down or impede his movement. Kale held out his hand and took the bigger man's into it. The man's grip was as tough as his body was. The grip was tight enough to cause a feeling of discomfort but it was not enough to cause pain. Despite himself Kale was beginning to like what he was seeing. "Ye have to let me apologize for that", he said to the man with a grin. "I do wish we had met under better circumstances. I am to be yer partner for ye match. But ye look like ye need a warm up first." Kale felt Almech tug at his hand faintly in an attempt to pull his hand away without being rude. That just would not due. He could not have his partner being so worried about such trivial things right before a match. He needed to loosen up. Kale felt the small adorning his face go from that of a cheap imitation to one in truth. He knew just how to warm this one up. Kale tightened his grip and gave a sudden yank. The larger man must not have expected for Kale's smaller body to hold as much strength as it did because he was not able to brace himself sufficiently enough in time to keep from stumbling toward him. Kale let the hand go as the man stumbled more into his range. The smaller man's hands found the larger man's shoulders and used them for leverage as he brought his knee up to strike a powerful blow to Almech's stomach. Whether it was reflex or not did not matter, somehow the giant managed to get his hands up in time to halt Kale's attack before it could do any damage.

[Almech]

He shook Kale's hand, gripping hard, he had heard one man can tell a lot about another simply by shaking one's hand, and a firm grip was apparently a good sign. Almech was surprised to say the least "Partner?" he asked "Is that the same as team mate, or companion?" it was an honest enough question. He just hoped that this man wouldn't think him to be stupid, he was new to human customs after all, he was fluent in common but there were still complexities to it that confused the young Kelvic. Then the man wouldn't let go, it got rather awkward as Almech tried to pull his hand away, then Kale yanked him downward, a surprise attack. It was odd how he moved, stopping the man's knee then fluidly crossing one leg behind the other, spinning to Kale's flank, or rather "rolling" out of the attack.

Had it struck him, he would have just rolled faster in proportion nullifying the force applied, for the most part. As he'd done this, one hand found it's way to the back of Kale's knee, he stood there, facing away from Kale, he could have easily toppled the man over simply by lifting upward. He didn't do this however, he assumed it was some kind of test, he made sure to let Kale know he could pass whatever test he could throw at Almech. He let go of his new comrade and turned around, and attempted another smile, it was so hard for him to not be the center of any and all awkward moments in his life, he would get over it though.

[Kale]

The gladiator let that smirk cross his lips again. This time he was not as aware of it though. His smile held no malice. It was simply the smirk of a man enjoying what he was doing. It had been a while since he had faced a man that could avoid one of his surprise attacks. Opponents in the coliseum blocked his normal attacks all the time. After all, part of his martial art was based on finding and exploiting openings in an enemy’s defenses. He felt his soon to be partner release his leg and back away. His smirk spread into a full out smile. The smaller warrior bent his legs at his knees slightly as he began to edge back in towards Almech. "Ye not quite warmed up yet are ye?" were the words that came from between Kale's lips. Before Kale’s opponent could respond he launched into yet another attack. His right fist raced in for Almech's face. As expected, Almech was able to press the fist to the side and cause it to fly wide. With the same motion the larger man turned in that circle that Kale had noted before. Without breaking stride Kale twisted in the opposite direction. The larger man was beginning to stretch his hand out to grip an exposed part of Kale's body when he saw the position he was in. As a testament to the larger man's dexterity he was able to hop just high enough to avoid the sweep. Kale let a curse slip from between his lips but did not allow it to effect his movements. The fighter that let his emotions interfere with his abilities had a habit of dying quickly. The gladiator moved in utilizing the opening he had created by causing the larger man to hop. He brought his left knee arching up for the large man's mid-section again. This time his attack almost landed. At the last minute Almech extended one hand and braced the palm against Kale's knee. By twisting his body and using the momentum of Kale's knee the larger man was once again able to avoid being harmed by any of his attacks. After a few more exchanges Kale moved back from his new found companion. The smaller man fully relaxed his body for the first time since the two had met. "I think we are warmed up enough don't ye?" he asked with a smile. "Besides we can't afford to get fatigued before our battle." He walked over and leant his body against the wall. He pulled the stopper from his flask and drained another healthy portion of it before looking up and motioning for Almech to drink some. "They should be calling us in any time now." Almost as if triggered by his words the sound of the gates rising to permit the last match's survive could be heard rising. There would only be a few minutes before they were called to battle. OOCI left the beginning of the last paragraph vague so that you could add your own sequence of events without altering the story. Also I apologize for the lousy read. I was tired when writing this.

[Almech]

OOCI'm assuming what you mean by fly wide is, your fist met the outer edge of our bubble, i'm sure you know what i mean by that.

Almech was glad that Kale seemed to be enjoying himself, seeing the man crouch slightly in a defensive stance Almech took his own. Kale then spoke "Ye not quite warmed up yet are ye?", Almech enjoyed the way this man spoke, it was, different, from what he'd heard before. A fist flew at him and effortlessly he met the fist with his palm, leading it off to the side as he spun on the ball of his foot in the same direction, immediately refacing Kale. Almech went to grab for Kale's shoulder as Kale twisted, ducking low for a leg sweep, so the Kelvic stopped and hopped, nothing special, just high enough to evade the trip. A knee came at him now, Almech jabbed it with his palm killing it's momentum, he used the same motion as before, crossing one leg behind the other he turned on a dime using kale's powerful blow, moving only a mere few inches toward and to the side of Kale.

Kale was beginning to figure Almech out, as a backward flying elbow rushed towards Almech's ribs. It struck and forced a grunt out of Almech, he took a step forward and turned around, readying himself for defense. Kale rushed him, now testing Almech's speed, throwing many quick jabs, Almech managed to weave out of most of Kale's attacks. A haymaker came and Almech leaned backward, but he wasn't quite quick enough. The fist hit him directly in the chin, it knocked Almech's head back but luckily most of the attack's momentum had petered out. The attack however had also compromised Almech's overall balance, causing him to stumble. Kale rushed him, sending a power jab at great speed, as Almech stumbled backward he reached out. He grabbed Kale's fist and intentionally fell to the ground, taking Kale with him, Almech rolled off to the side and stood up.

He took a deep breath, his muscles were getting loose and warm, a little while longer and Almech would be all warmed up. He allowed Kale to get up, and the two stared each other down for some time. Almech decided it was his turn to go on the offensive, he ran forth and before he could swing at Kale, Kale's foot was heading for his ribs. Almech stopped it directly, smacking his forearm into Kale's shin, this hurt quiet a bit, but it was nothing worth stopping over. He threw a barrage of punches himself and Kale bobbed and weaved out of them. Almech threw a knee up with enough force for his body to leave the ground, he aimed the knee for Kale's chest. Kale simply took a step back and flung a powerful punch towards Almech's face, he had no time, the second Almech began to descend he tilted his head back and thrust his palm into Kale's clavicle on the side the punch came from.

At the same instant Kale's fist hit him in the cheek, the two opposing forces cancelled each other out causing only minimal damage to the pair. He was ready now, his body warmed up and his energy level nearly at it's peak, he took a few deep breaths releasing the tension from his body. Kale spoke "I think we are warmed up enough don't ye? Besides we can't afford to get fatigued before our battle" Almech knodded his head in agreement. He accepted Kale's offering of water, he took the bottle and took his time, slowly drinking what he needed from the flask "They should be calling us in any time now". Almech heard the gates of the coliseum rising "Impeccable timing, I believe is the correct term" he said as he began doing his final stretches before their fight.

[Kale]

He moved closer to his new found comrade and patted him on the shoulder softly. In his own way this larger man seemed to be a solitary creature. For Kale it was almost as though he were interacting with another facet of himself. Almech seemed to be someone that was out of place in society. He had no idea about the larger man's past or what might have caused him to distance himself so far from others but nevertheless Kale could not help but feel a small amount of kinship with this man. Kale was one of those that society left in the gray. He was not evil or malicious. But neither was he good and chivalrous. Unfortunately for the hardened warrior, society only normally saw things in terms of black and white. You were either good or bad. If you were neither of those two you tended to slip through the seams. A person in general tended to not have anything against the grayish people. It was when people came together that their points of view changed. For Kale it was his desire for greater strength. If there were an opponent that he thought would help him in his ability to grow stronger or if he simply thought it would be fun he would engage that person. He was not evil, he would not simply attack children or defenseless people. Minor details like that did not seem to be heard though. So Kale stuck to himself. He had grown weary of trying to explain why he did the things he did. He had tired of trying to fit into a society that asked more of him that he was willing to give. He would not change to make others happy. He was himself, not who others wanted him to be. He armored himself in contempt and willingly became the outsider. He was the one that those in society turned to when their chivalrous ones were not strong enough to do what had to be done. He was the one that they turned to when their malicious ones were too fearful for their own skin to be what had to be done. After all who better to turn to when something seemed like suicide then to the man who loved to fight above all else? Kale lifted his hand from his companion's shoulder and gave him a nod. He did not know why this man was an outcast. he did not know if it was forced by others or self-inflicted. He simply recognized someone like him. He joined the large man as he finished stretching what few muscles needed it and began to prepare for the fight that was soon to come. Kale felt a calm wash over him as he relaxed his muscles. He knew they would be burning with effort before the day was out but for the moment he was content. It was the calm before the storm. It was the calm before the chaos of battle. It was odd how it always seemed peaceful right before something like that happened. Kale did not bother to address the guard that came to collect them for the fight. He simply nodded in the man's direction and began to move that way. He did not look behind him to check and make sure that Almech was following him. This gladiator ring was not something that people were forced to participate in. At least they usually were not forced to. Both of them were here by choice today. However they both knew that once you had agreed to fight there was no turning back. Kale exited the shadows cast by the stones of the coliseum and entered the arena. Thunderous applause and shouts of anticipation rang through the air. The crowd knew him. They knew he always gave them a good show.

[Almech]

Almech felt as though he'd made a good impression on Kale, as Kale did on Almech, he liked this man, even though they'd only met a few minutes ago. He followed Kale into the stadium the vast crowd cheered for Kale, perhaps there was a reason why Almech liked Kale. If he had been in his dog form he'd have gotten the same courtesy, being a previous pit dog champion. Almech kept his eyes on the entry way for their opponents, he didn't say a word and watched as the gate rose up. A man and a woman stepped out, they were human as far as Almech could tell, the man brandishing a pair of shiny gauntlets and the woman, wielded nothing. Almech stood directly behind Kale close enough to whisper "If we rush just one of them at the same time, it will be easier to see what we're up against, a feint blitz so to speak". He waited for a response from his partner, with full confidence that they would emerge from this arena victorious.