PM to join Cat Fight [Niraeya]

[Rosela]

Timestamp: Summer 85th, 513AV

The weather was starting to cool down, at least for Rosela. The summer heat was nothing compared to the desert, so while others still complained about being stuck indoors, Rosela enjoyed what she felt was perfect autumn weather. The streets were fairly empty as everyone was hiding from Syna inside.

It had been some time since Rosela's last visit to the Kendoka Sasaran and she was feeling more confident about going this time. She wondered if that dirty Benshira had shown his face again; after his cheap parting shot, failed attempt though it was, she hoped Mizra wouldn't let him in again. This time, however, Rosela hoped to find a more amicable partner. She had learned plenty from her last fight, but the animosity had made her desperate to spill that sand-sucker's blood, not focus on her form. The memory of that last, furious headbutt still brought a discrete smile to her face.

Sliding open the door, she was at first assaulted by the smell of sweat in the air. Unpleasant though it was, it wasn't unexpected. She was glad to see a few women sparring in the room amongst the pairs of men. Mizra was on the other side of the room, dancing around a pair of intensely grappling Akalaks nearly as big as he was. The air was alive with the thunks and cracks of wooden weapons meeting each other. There didn't seem to be anyone without a partner this time, so Rosela could only assume she had to wait or play around by herself. Memories of birthday party segregations and narrating her dolls' lives by herself welled up in her mind.

In an effort to beat them down, she strode purposefully over to the wooden weapons rack and picked out a pair of the daggers she'd used previously. They appeared to be the very same ones, but after so much time, it was hard to tell.

Daggers in hand, she curiously picked up a wooden longsword, surprised at its weight. One hand wrapped around the hilt and she had to focus to lift it up without support. Bicep tense to keep it from dropping, she tilted it out to touch the wall in front of her. She poked the blunted tip into the wood once before giving up and abruptly setting it back down. Too heavy.

[Niraeya]

It seemed that the majority of Niraeya's days in the city had gone to waste. Admittedly there was nothing wrong with lazing the summer away and she hardly remembered most of it, finding almost nothing of worth to write down; but she hadn't come to Riverfall to lay around and bask in Syna's light. She could have stayed home for that.

So there she was, constantly checking her map as she walked the path to the Kendoka Sasaran. She hadn't the slightest clue when she would be leaving the city but she knew in time that she would and she would not always have the fortune of a caravan like the last.

Having finally reached her destination - the heavenly scent of fresh baked goods her only distraction on the way - Niraeya swung open the doors and was immediately greeted by the clashing of weapons and the heady smell of musk. She could not stop the slight wrinkling of her nose but soon enough she would smell just the same. She did notice, to her relief, that she was not the only female in the vicinity. Yet it was not a fact she could be entirely happy about. As her gaze landed on the six armed figure, her body visbly tensed and overwhelming figure of unease and disdain filled her. An Eypharian was the last person she expected to run into. Her back was turned to her - which did nothing to calm her - but she knew once the being turned and saw her, the disdain Niraeya felt would be nothing compared to the Eypharian's.

Niraeya bit her lip, thoughts of whether to stay or flee conducting a better battle than she could ever physically carry out. Staying those few days surrounded by them in Ahnatep was suffocating enough, she didn't think she could stand just a few hours in this space. In the end she decided to return another day.

Before she could turn away a booming voice filled the air and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Welcome friend, looking for some weapons practice?"

There was no possible way she could have missed him but as it were she was stuck in her thoughts of the Eypharian that she had not seen the impossibly tall Akalak. She knew the race of blue warriors were tall yet he seemed to surpass even the norm. She stared wide-eyed at the man before her, craning her neck to see his face. "No! Well I mean yes, I am but - you are extremely tall!" She said cutting herself off to state the obvious. It was hard to concentrate when she was distracted by his height and the thought of how big his bed must be to comfortably fit him. She even momentarily forgot the reason for her hasty retreat previously.

[Rosela]

Long sword abandoned, Rosela picked up two more daggers to join the two already in her hand. She slowly turned the four in unison to lay horizontally, testing the feel of having so many weapons on hand at once. The sensation was far from deadly; she felt awkward and clumsy with so many things to be mindful of at once. No, two daggers would be her limit.

A conversation started behind her, genial and strongly contrasting to the grunts and orders from the rest of the room. Irritated at herself for missing the door opening, Rosela turned to look at the female voice. Her irritation grew when she realized this new woman had gotten a personal greeting before her, and when she realized exactly what had walked through the door, she wasn't sure whether to be furious...or to bless Akajia for delivering another Benshira to humiliate. That ugly, dirty skin, the craze of curls...just begging to be taken down a notch.

Daggers clutched, she bounded over, nearly skipping. Her smile was toothy and a little too eager, but she couldn't help it. "Now isn't this providence!" She exclaimed, stopping next to the large man. "I just got here, and have no one to spar with!"

The Akalak blinked in surprise, and rolled off a shrug, clearly taken aback by her enthusiasm. "Uh, great! Why don't we get you set up with a weapon here and you two can learn with a nice spar..." He slung one massive arm around the Benshira girl and began to lead her to the weapons table.

Rosela locked eyes with her as they passed, her smile still in place. "Can't wait..." Her previous battle replayed in her mind, trying to remember what she could from it. Keep your feet under you, get in close, go for the neck... She also remembered that spars weren't supposed to get nasty, but that would be up to the little sand rat.

[Niraeya]

As to be expected, the bit of commotion the two had caused had drawn the attention of the very person Niraeya was trying to avoid. Making a soft sound that expressed her contempt, she tried to keep her eyes off the approaching Eypharian. The toothy grin on her face coupled with the daggers clutched in her hands served to unsettle the Benshira. She could not hide the uneasiness that swept across her face.

And the woman's next words had her shifting on her feet. She had to leave, now. Before she could conjure up some excuse, the mammoth Akalak slung his arm around her shoulders and led her towards the rack of weapons.

Niraeya was fully prepared to slip out from under his arm and make her way to the door with hurried apologies - she did not have so much pride as to not decline - but as she locked eyes with the Eypharian, that grin still on her face, she clenched her jaw and allowed herself to be guided. She would later regret her stubborn decision to stay she was sure, but now she could not leave; the thought of landing even a hit on the insufferable creature was too great a chance to pass up.

A multitude of wooden weapons lay before and her eyes glazed over them all. She knew not which to pick but she knew with absolute certainty that a sword was not for her. Glancing at the Eypharian's many arms and the to daggers she wielded, Niraeya turned her gaze back to the rack; specifically the staffs.

Running her hand along one that looked to be a few inches taller than her, she wrapped her hands and picked it up. It had weight on it, not so much that she couldn't comfortably hold it but enough that her arms would ache at the end of their spar. It was perfect for her as she did not ever want to be within grabbing distance of any opponent, especially one with six arms.

Niraeya turned with a near invisible grin on her face. "I like the feel of this one," she told the Akalak.

[Rosela]

Of course the sand rat would pick a glorified stick, Rosela thought to herself as she watched the pair look over the weapons rack. It was defensive, blunt, and lacking any style at all. She may as well have picked a club.

Rosela moved to the nearest empty mat, trying to steady her beating heart and remember the bits and pieces she'd learned the time before. Feet spread, stay low, and don't worry about using the two daggers together. The staff would probably keep her too far away to use the daggers, unless she managed to get past it and in close. But how to get past it? She hated to admit it, but the staff was looking like it'd make her life a little difficult.

Once the three of them were on the mat, Rosela flipped one dagger in her hand so she had a dagger lying flat against her forearm on her left side, where she'd found it was easier to defend with it, and the dagger on her right was low and held facing out. Her other two pairs of hands were held out, palms relaxed. Unlike last time, she couldn't afford to start out this fight with a temper tantrum; every hit had to count and count hard.

"Good, you've got a decent stance here," The instructor indicated her posture briefly and Rosela inwardly balked at 'decent'. "But you'll want to straighten your back more. If you're bent too far forward, you lose a lot of flexibility. Same with your feet. Spread feet are good for stability, but don't spread them too far, or that extra second you take to shift your weight will be your opponent's opening." Begrudgingly, Rosela admitted to herself that he knew what he was doing, and raised her back and shuffled in her feet.

He turned and moved a step towards the sand rat and gave her a few brief instructions, during which Rosela stared her down. She needed this victory, had to have it. After a moment, the instructor moved to a short distance off-center from between them. "Ok you two, begin!"

Rosela clenched, left arm up and ready for a blow to come. She couldn't make the first blow here, as much as she wanted to. The sand rat would have to move first.

OOCFeel free to use the guy for whatever teaching, I don't want to have sole control over him

[Gossamer]

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Character: Rosela

Experience: Observation +3, Socialization +1, Dagger +1

Lore:
Swords: Too Heavy
Benshira: Sand Rats
Dagger: Proper Stances

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Character: Niraeya

Experience: Observation +3

Lore:
Akalaks: Are Huge

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Additional Note: Another short but sweet thread. : ) I wish more of these finished for you Rosela. Sometimes no comments are a good thing. Too bad I couldn’t have awarded more XP.