Closed He is so d.... Focus woman!! (Aren)

[Aleksi]

Spring, 58th of 513AV (Afternoon)

Knowing that the Strider would not allow the Akalak to get anywhere near it, she decided she'd just walk alongside her animals and Aren. As they left the hostel, she dragged her fingers through Luc's fur, calming the growling cat and mumbling that they must leave in Pavi before turning to see if the man was following her. With a soft smile, she nodded his way and headed towards the gates of the city. She was not saying much, barely even looking at him in a somewhat of a failing attempt to make her cheeks the normal color again and her voice less squeaky-sounding. Her fingers, every now and then would tap Night's neck and slide through Luc's fur, making sure they both understand that it's safe and fine for the man to be next to them, since their last meeting, did not go so well. When they arrived to a nearby place that she had seen on her way to Nyka, she dropped the bag onto the grass and watched the Strider make its way under the tree, hiding in the shade. The cat though, lazily dragged itself to the grass and almost instantly fell asleep. Her eyes then moved over to the Akalak, lips curled up in a smile and she whispered, still pretty red It's fine.. I uhm.. I am sorry about that from before... I just.. get clumsy at pretty much everything but fighting and hunting Shrugging lightly, she started moving her head in small circles, warming her neck up. Arms stretched out, pulling the head to the side with each hand before she let her hips move in circles as well, then her feet and then, her legs spread lightly. Upper body moved to one side, then the other, fingertips touching her toes. Every now and then, she'd look at the man and pull off another smile, before continuing with all the warming up, prior to her actual exercise.

[Aren]

Seeing Aleksi pet that tiger she called Luc, Aren wondered if it would allow him to do the same. Unlikely, he though, doubting his chances of successfully accomplishing such a feat. Nevertheless, both the cat and the mount seemed like majestic animals, and the akalak couldn't help but be amazed by the company drykas could keep. They had such facility with these things, while Aren could barely ride a horse. The young woman seemed intent on blaming herself for the earlier incident in her home, but the akalak would have none of it, "Like I said, no need to apologize," Aren replied, returning her smile with one of his own. Promptly following her lead, the blue skinned warrior set down his scythe so as to allow a better range of movements for his warm-up. He couldn't really use the weapon during a spar with someone who's abilities he did not know, anyway. That would have simply been too dangerous. One missed parry, one incorrect step... and someone could lose a limb, or worse. Truthfully, he wasn't paying much attention to his own warm-up, busy as he was tracing the motion of his opposite number's body. After what seemed like mere moments, Aren realized that his routine was complete, and he had simply been too preoccupied with other matters to notice. "I'm ready whenever you are," he stated, trying his best to prevent his eyes from lingering overmuch.

[Aleksi]

She didn't seem to pay much attention to what she was doing as she didn't even realize that she was doing splits while looking at the Akalak move. Shaking her head for a second, she grunted, feeling the muscles of her legs burn from all the stretching. Smiling at him as she heard him speak, she pushed herself up on her feet, adjusting the leather top and pants to allow her to move without restrictions. She rolled her shoulders back, cracked her neck and with a cheeky smile extended her hand towards him, moving a finger as if to invite him to come closer. The look on her face seemed rather.... strange for a fighter. Then again, she loved fighting more than she loved anything else.. well, if Luc and Night were not counted in. Being quite good at wrestling, she thought that the size of that Akalak should not be an issue. After all, being that petite had its advantages. She was probably quite a bit quicker than him and by far more flexible.. she had that theory proved to herself a few seconds ago. The horse and the cat, as if they could hear her thoughts stood up and approached a bit, not in a matter that should worry him, but more with curiosity that they shared with their human companion. Her voice was soft, yet somewhat cheeky just like her smile You know Akalak, if I beat you, you owe me an explanation to that story of yours.. about the scream It sounded almost playful, the way she said it. And for her, frankly, everything was playful. There was nothing in this strange, little world that she hated, if you exclude slavers. After all, she bonded with a horse Kelvic that was a woman, slept with a man who she had just met after nearly killing him by kicking his.... sensitive parts... and lived through a disaster that was supposed to be an arranged marriage in Endrykas... bad decisions were her life and she was not to give them away.

[Aren]

Aren had noticed how Alexsi's animals reacted to her demeanor. When she was angry, they growled. When she was calm, they seemed almost lethargic. As such, he realized that the easiest manner of divining the drykas' mood was to simply look at the demeanor of her animals. They were, after all, much more adept at reading her than he could hope to be in such a short time. In addition, animals never hid what they were feeling, requiring only a casual glance to read. At the young woman's challenge, for it could only be called that, Aren smiled broadly. He certainly had no desire to reveal his Other, but neither did he have any intention of being beaten by a petite drykas. "And if, after all is said and done, you are the one that lies defeated?" the akalak queried, rather interested in what she would be willing to give him. At this point, his imagination went rampant, and his eyes glossed over for but the briefest of moments. Snapping himself back to reality, Aren told himself that the battle was not yet won. In fact, the battle, had not even begun! What shame he would heap on his ancestors and his gods if he were to suffer defeat, not at the hands of a superior opponent, but because of a wandering mind.

[Aleksi]

Aleksi noticed the man look at her animals. Standing proudly with a smile on her face, she added They are such beauties before turning her head back, to take a look at them once more. Indeed they were... such extraordinary creatures, both of them. One deep sigh, a blink and a roll of her shoulders later, she was back on track with what was going on around her. The Akalak seemed to pay little attention to what she was saying, but had heard her offer. Afterwards, of course, asking the only logical question one could ask in that situation and with the look on his face, making Aleksi almost giggle. He was cock about his skills, clearly, which was just a reason more to beat him. But, the only fair answer she could give, after asking for such a private matter was You chose what you want and you will have it. Her statement just as cocky as his look, if not more. She was well aware of the dangers though, or she thought she did. He was much bigger, therefor, probably much stronger, but to that, she had speed. He was much taller, therefor he had range, but she was petite and easy to move to places where he couldn't get her and he probably had moves of his own that she never so before, but so did she. Grinning softly, she shrugged again and added Now, are you going to fight or are you going to try and stare at me to death Akalak? Moving her body just a tad lower, Aleksi looked ready for a fight. Her eyes following even the smallest of his moves. Her brain though, could only hope that she would not end up being distracted by him yet again, and cause her a whole lot of trouble

[Aren]

At the drykas' answer to his question, Aren's eyes glazed over yet again. His mind began a second rampage through the depths of his imagination, before he forced himself to focus once more. "The challenge is your's, and so I allow you the first move," the akalak stated, cocksure arrogance clearly evident in his tone. Aren was a patient fighter. He was methodical and efficient, always looking to get the most of an exchange while giving as little as possible. This philosophy applied to nearly all aspects of his combat style. In a one on one situation, he always wanted to know as much about his opponent, while revealing only the bare minimum about himself. What kind of weapons did they use? What was their level of proficiency with said weapons? How fast could they move? How strong were they? Did they have any magical skills? Did they possess any easily exploitable weakness? If so, were they of a physical or psychological nature? He fought with the goal of answering these questions, and many others, whilst giving no answers himself. This was the reason he was so graciously allowing his opponent the first move. It was no gift, to be certain, but a trap weaved of devious intent. Of course, sometimes, one did not have the luxury of allowing the enemy to attack first. In these instances, Aren's preferred tactic was much simpler: hit the enemy with as much force as he could bring to bear, as quickly as possible. Always careful, and rarely unprepared, the akalak was already making arrangements to deliver such a blow. This consisted of coating his arms in a very thin layer of res: the form a reimancer's djed takes. It was nigh imperceptible, but through an application of will, could rapidly take on deadly form.

[Aleksi]

Frowning lightly, she stood still, letting the man's eyes wander over her. She did the same with him, so it was not expected of her to react the way she would usually. Especially when thinking of a few tricks up her sleeve to bring him down even more than by just beating him in a fair fight. She chuckled at the tone of his voice and the words that came over his lips. It was the exact same thing that Xi tried to do, just before he got a knee to the...ahem... Shaking her head and with her upper lip lifting up on one side, causing the grin to look almost vicious, she added Stop undressing me with your eyes Akalak, show me you are worth my attention That sentence was meant to sting, her grin and the sparkle in her eyes supporting it, openly. Her body petite, yet when tensed, showing a nice tone of muscles underneath the pale skin and tattoos. And what she said next, was meant to distract the already fighting man, it seemed And I might, just allow you to look at me that way for a while the emphasis on the word "look" along with a wink to explain further on what she meant by that. Chuckling the woman stood there, waiting, breathing slowly and expecting a hit, if not with full force, than something close, since well, he didn't seem stupid enough to think he'd be able to catch her twice or three times in a row. After all, when he saw her stretch with ease, he could have guessed that she was the one to move about. But could he guess that if he was cocky, she'd play dirty like this? She didn't know...

[Aren]

At her mock accusation, Aren offered a mischievous grin. Being neither ashamed, nor ignorant of the fact that she was doing the same, he hardly felt the need to take a defensive posture. "I'll do that... if you return the favor," the akalak rebutted, perfectly aware that her eyes stood guilty of the same crime. "Although I suspect neither of us really wants that," Aren added, decidedly confident in the veracity of his statement. Although they were only talking now, talk was often as much a part of battle as actual combat. It was the subtle probing of your enemy's intentions, and the course of a fight could sometimes be decided here. Always patient, but never idle, Aren was not simply exchanging witty banter with his opponent. As they talked, he continued to produced res, enhancing the potency of his eventual attack. In addition, since the possibility that he would need to attack first and lastly was growing higher by the minute, the akalak thought that an additional angle of assault might prove useful. As such, he began to slowly slink a single tentacle of his res across the ground, heading in the direction of his prey. It was an agonizingly slow and painstaking process, made necessary by the need to avoid detection. The tentacle had to bend around every blade of grass, slink over every pebble, lest the disturbance alert a wary foe to the gambit. Aren had never tried to use his reimancy in this way before, and was actually rather curious if it would work as he had planned. A real opponent and a lack of dire consequences made the occasion a perfect testing ground. Success or failure, victory or defeat, the moment of truth would soon be at hand, and Aren eyed his drykas adversary with focused intensity. After all, although the consequences of losing would likely not be dire, the rewards of victory promised to be great. Aleksi's enticing manner and speech told him that this was not an opportunity to be squandered.

[Aleksi]

Her already twisted smile turned scary... or alluring... almost enticing all at once. Making her fists clench and her knuckles crack, she started walking towards the Akalak, slowly, carefully. Her eyes locked on his, but her steps seemed overly graceful for someone that was about to fight. It didn't seem that this Drykas was serious about the challenge at all. If anything, she seemed to be thinking of everything but that kind of contact. Her eyes were sparkling, he could see that when she brought the distance between them to half. A soft chuckle escaped her, her voice soft but focused, focused on something... something that couldn't really be noticed on the look on her face Well, Akalak, it's not very often that I have a male who isn't literally scared of me enough to come out of my bathroom in just a towel, you know Her body, after that, out of nowhere burst in somewhat of a fast pace towards him, dropping herself onto the ground and with her feet, attempting to kick against Akalak's thighs, a bit higher than usual, not wanting to end up breaking his knees, if she hit and still wanting to knock him off balance enough to be able to reach his neck properly. After all, she wouldn't be able to win the fight with strength, size or reach, so hitting low, fast and sneaky was her only option. While attacking, her mind was blank, no matter what she had thought of earlier, now, she was focused on the opponent's next move, his reaction, speed, impact chance, strength and occasionally the mus.... no, no, no, focused was the way to do it!

[Aren]

Aren knew that Aleksi had decided to take him up on his offer the moment she took a step in his direction. She was trying to get closer, so that the distance she would have to cross when she started her offensive was shorter. At least, that's what the akalak himself would have done, in her position. It was never wise to give an adversary too much time to react, to think, to plan. "Who says I'm not extremely terrified of you? Courage is not an absence of fear, but the ability to overcome it," the akalak philosophized, his words simply another part of his strategy. When dealing with lesser minds, complicated concepts could sometimes serve to force the opponent to think about them, even if they didn't want to. The distraction would usually last only for an instant, but that instant could mean the difference between life and death. Of course, more savvy warriors did not generally fall for such a ploy, but it never hurt to try. Soon enough, Aren's prediction would prove correct, as the drykas burst into a sprint towards him. Although the move was not unexpected, it was the sound tactical choice. It would be idiotic to simply walk towards your opponent, denying yourself the advantages of speed, momentum and kinetic force. In response, the akalak swiftly went into a defensive stance: knees bent, chest straight and arms in front of him. A lower center of gravity was essential to maintaining balance when bodies collided, and an appropriate posture was necessary to facilitate counter attacks and defensive maneuvers in the heat of battle. Years of training with a heavy, cumbersome weapon where balance and posture where essential skills had taught Aren that. One clumsy swing, one step with your body improperly positioned and your reckless blow would leave you wide open to even the most simple of counter attacks. These lessons had been drilled into his head long ago, and the akalak was not about to forget them today. As the drykas' blow landed, Aren did not even attempt to block it. She was very small, and had likely not even been sprinting at her maximum speed. The best response to such a half-hearted attack was to demonstrate why it was a mistake. The kick stung, even for someone of his size, actually forcing the entire lag to shift back a few inches. However, the opportunity it provided was worth the pain. Reacting in anticipation of the blow, not in response, Aren's left arm sprung down to grab hold of his aggressor's leg. Meanwhile, his right arm simultaneously slithered towards one of the drykas' opposite arms. The idea was that with only a single arm and leg free to attack, and without the momentum of her whole body behind said attacks, the much smaller woman would not be able to apply enough force to harm him. Of course, if the battle DID end here, he would have to suggest that perhaps a best two out of three would make a more appropriate contest. If not, at such a close distance... well, the forces of nature were usually much more difficult to avoid than a conventional blow. At this point, in the heat of battle, with a prize on the horizon, Aren had practically forgotten that magic was not exactly something you wanted to be flaunting trivially. Unfortunately, his mind was currently preoccupied with more seemingly important matters.