By the shore. [PAIN!]

by **Markus Andres** on October 17th, 2010, 3:05 am

Markus was quite impressed by the method she got back up on her feet again. Yet, he couldn't help but think she was showing off, she must have known that Markus, with his bulkier and less agile body couldn't pull off such a stunt. Not without risking just fall back down on his rear again. So, he took the safe way to get up, the good ol' fashioned way of standing up. She explained that the word Opit, dog command. Markus raised his right eyebrow, wondering why she had thought of that first. Did he remind her of a dog? Or was it just a random thought in her mind? He really hoped it was the latter.

Markus stepped back, let his right left foot be the leading one, lifting his guard like she had shown him to have it, up protecting his chin from being struck. Then she moved. Markus had seen her speed once before, but it still surprised him that she got that close, that fast. Then he saw and felt the first blow connect with the right arm he had up defending his jaw and cheek from being pulverized. She might not be as bulky as Markus, but those small and quick fists of her really stung. He accidentally let one of her strikes get past his defense and he felt how it slid across his cheek when he dodged to the side at the last moment. It left a long line of stinging pain. But he had managed to dodge most of it, that was the important part.

Come on boy, don't lose your focus, keep the defense up and tight and wait for an opportunity to strike back.

He wasn't consciously disregarding her advice to be aggressive, he simply didn't have any choice at the moment. Her speed and experience was keeping Markus hard pressed, him who was used to having a large sheet of metal between him and his opponent. It was much different to be using his own arm as a shield. And stung a lot more. But he could handle that pain. He couldn't handle The Pain if things kept going like this. Her strike changed, Markus slid his right foot a little further back. Put both his arms in front of his head and felt the elbow collide with his guard. Once again, it stung. But once again, Markus could take the pain. Then her most devastating attack came. A knee aimed at his midsection, because of his tighter upper guard, like she had told him to, his lower guard had been neglected. He quickly pushed both arms down to intercept the strike. But it was too late. He barely managed to tighten his abdomen and protected his organs from the brunt of the attack. Still. The pain exploded from his midsection and Markus jumped back once he had regained his focus. To get away from the speedy little fighter.

"I see why you're called Pain..." Markus said with the hint of a grin on his lips. He liked it thus far, even with the pain, he liked it. She were a fighter and a good one at that and Markus could learn a lot from her. - It was either luck or because of his abdomen that he had avoided having all air chased out of his lungs. For he could breathe freely, even if it caused pain. Markus moved back in again, pushing the bulky body into an attack position. Markus' right arm shot out, aimed at the middle of the woman's face. A feign, get her guard up high. The right arm shot back to a defensive position. His left arm would instead sweep out in a shovel hook, aimed at her floater ribs on the right side of her chest. He didn't put any weight behind the attack, it was a quick strike, get in and out right away. As his left hand returned to his chin, his right arm shot out, using the twist from taking his left arm back, to shoot out his right hand directly at her face. Hoping that the feign and then true attack had directed her defense away from her face. Giving him an open shot at taking her out.

by **Elhaym** on October 17th, 2010, 6:42 am

The fact that two out of her three attacks had made solid contact aside, Pain felt confident that Markus would need only minimal instruction in a focused hand to hand combat style for it to become viable for him in a fight. Her fist slid across the soft tissue of his face, a near hit. Perhaps Markus would understand how difficult it was to consistently keep a guard up by the end of this. It had taken Pain quite a while to learn to keep at least one hand up, no matter her attack. Despite taking the brunt of the knee attack, Markus seemed to be holding up well.

He did not hesitate to take the fight back to her. That was what she had tried to convey to him, and it seemed he had taken her advice to heart. His initial attack came fast, a simple jab. Pain's hands were balled loosely into fists, bobbing up and down with her body. It was reflex to slightly twist her body away from the blow and open her left palm a bit, expecting to catch the jab and direct it's force to the side. A feint. Pain's left hand retracted into a fist, and she found movement in his left shoulder and hips. He was going for a body shot, an arcing blow that would pummel her ribs and leave her breathless if unchecked. Markus had yet to see how truly viable Pain's style of guard was.

Pain dipped her right shoulder down and lowered her right arm, tightening the muscles in her forearm and bicep and clenching them together. Now, the gnarled muscle and bone of her elbow and forearm were directly in the path of his blow. Her body was already slightly twisted at the waist towards Markus' blow, so in that regard he had succeeded. However, with her guard, she could maneuver her arms and elbows to deflect body blows as well with practiced ease. His fist impacted hardened flesh and bone rather than the brittle bone he had anticipated, but his attack did not cease. Apparently, he had learned one thing from Pain already. He did not let his attacking limb linger, but instead retracted it quickly and continued his assault. Excellent.

Another jab. He had anticipated that she would have had to make a more dramatic movement to protect her body, but her left fist still maintained guard duty on her chin, and was ready. As he threw his jab, Pain stepped back slightly with her right foot and twisted her waist, simultaneously opening her left arm's palm and allowing a slight impact from his fist before applying pressure from her own, guiding the blow away from her to his inside ever so slightly. The reality was that it hurt like hell to intercept a punch that way, but those who thought the winner of the fight always went home without injury were naive. Markus' jab had been neutralized, and Pain had a notion to test his ability to learn from his opponent.

Pain's foot position had changed, but now she brought it back inline by stepping in with her right foot and pressing her body below her arm against his attacking limb. Her right arm fired forward, a strike that could have been a vicious jab in a beeline for his jaw. Instead, Pain had opted for an open palm strike that would impact the side of his face, if it all. A disorienting attack wouldn't be preferable in a real fight, but Pain wasn't so harsh as to feel the need to pummel someone needlessly. Rather, she was more interested in his reaction.

He had kept his left hand up, which Pain noted as excellent technique. However, this blow was coming fast and from the right side. She knew that unless Markus had taken note of Pain swiveling her torso and her upper body movement, he would surely end up taking the blow. If he could think on his feet, lean back or away from the attack and take a step back... then avoiding it would be possible. In order to utilize this guarding style to it's fullest, the entire body had to be constantly in sync with the enemies movements.

This was what Pain had told him about. She was right on top of him now and in a dominant position. She could smell his breath, feel the sweat flinging from his body. Surely, he could feel the same from her. Would Markus falter under the pressure, or would he adapt and learn from his new teacher and take note of what he saw from her? As her right arm careened towards impact, Pain couldn't tell from his body movement what his reaction would be.

by **Markus Andres** on October 18th, 2010, 2:14 am

The smaller fighter had managed to intercept both of Markus' blows, they both hit her limbs instead of their designated targets. It made Markus happy to know that she really knew how to follow her own advice. Always one hand up to defend your chin and head. He noticed what she did with her left hand. The way she neutralized his strike. It looked fancy and well-rehearsed. Markus doubted he could do something like that in the heat of this battle. But the move with her, assumed, offhand, made him realized that the next strike would probably come from her right hand or from her legs.

Markus wouldn't have endless time to figure out something to do, so he just did what felt natural to someone like him, he faced the danger head-on. He slid forward with his left foot and moved his head and upper body forward and to his own right. The reason for moving forward, to dodge any hook attempts from the side. The reason for dodging to his own right, was to avoid any straight punches from her side. This little maneuver, naturally relied on her not being able to turn her left hand from defense into offense, because if she could do that faster than Markus could unleash his own attack, then he was diving face first into one of her ready fists.

Markus' left arm had moved down, to protect his abdomen as he ducked in closer. Until he spotted her right hand shoot out, then Markus' left hand shot out. His left hand would do a palm thrust/push aimed directly at her chest. It wasn't an attempt to grope or touch her chest, but to push her away from him so her left elbow didn't lash out at his unprotected face. Markus wouldn't follow after the girl should she stumble away, due to his shove. Should it even connect he would just step back and return to his fighting stance.

by **Elhaym** on October 18th, 2010, 6:17 am

Markus' reaction was more inspired than Pain had imagined. He had somehow managed to devise a counterattack strategy. Perhaps he had more martial training that Pain had thought, as he seemed quite capable in hand to hand combat as it stood. Despite, Pain mind was working in overdrive and taking in the subtle movements of his body even as he lashed out with his off hand. The key to reacting to an opponents movements was focus on their body as a whole, not a single point. His body twisting, his arm twitching and rising as if a cobra, preparing to strike. Her own arm's advance was foiled. He was on the attack.

Pain relaxed the muscles in her right arm, and focused instead on the muscles in her shoulders and abdomen. She pulled her body back hard, bending backwards so fast that it might have appeared she was going to fall. The muscles in her thighs and the tendons in her knees screamed as her reliance fell solely to them to keep her from falling on her back. She was now almost on the ground, Markus' strike visible above her. Her arms reacted to the stress in her knees, and she threw both of them to the ground behind her head to support herself. Pain glanced at Markus', now in a sort of crabwalk position on the ground. It was too awkward a position to mount any sort of feasible counterattack, so Pain opted to get distance instead. She pushed hard with her arms, curling her knees towards her chest and executing a back flip from the ground. Her body sailed through the air, impacting hard on the ground. Pain's large legs absorbed the impact, and she returned to her stance as if nothing had transpired at all. He had seen the fighter, now he had also seen how agile her body was.

"It seems the squires of Syliras need only a bit of a push in the right direction to succeed... either that, or you're just pretty good Markus." Pain said inbetween breaths. "You got the fundamentals down pretty quick, it's just a matter of repetition until you don't have to think about it anymore. You learn pretty good though."

"So what now? You wanna give it another go?"

by **Markus Andres** on October 19th, 2010, 2:35 am

Pain once again surprised Markus with her agility. Markus would probably have sprained or dislocated every single spiral in his back trying to what she were doing. Markus stepped back away from her, realizing that from that awkward position, Pain was quite capable of kicking Markus in the groin. She might not be able to put much power into the strike, but in that particular area, power wasn't really needed to inflict massive pain. He looked as Pain once again showed off as she did a backflip, Markus was very impressed with her. His arms shot up in a tight guard around his face, not knowing if Pain would suddenly jump forward and deck him as he was mesmerized by her skillful body. But, Pain broke their silence, not with the word Opit. Which pleased Markus.

"Thank you, I really thought I had you there, but that was a very impressive dodge." Markus said with a jovial smile. "And yes, let's go again. If you're up for it, I am only just getting started." A lie, Markus abdomen was sending shivers of pain through his body every time he made a sudden motion, which he couldn't avoid making in an intense fight with this girl, but he really wanted to learn and he had loved the earlier fight. How close he had been to landing a blow on the smaller woman.

Markus would wait a second or two, before suddenly dashing forward, sending his right arm in a quick jab at her jawline. Followed by a left jab as his right hand returned to defend his own chin from being struck.

by **Elhaym** on October 20th, 2010, 5:12 am

Pain nodded as Markus' spoke about what he had conceived as a surefire hit. It was important that he learn to expect the unexpected from his opponent on top of everything else. He seemed eager to go, and Pain was more than happy to oblige. Pain felt a little restricted on the techniques she was using, but for the benefit of her student she was focusing on the sort of attack she felt he would most likely endure; attacks to his head. He would normally be armored, and though his forearms may be aching, he would typically have had the benefit of metal. In a true battle against him in an actual Knight's armor, Pain would have injured her hands and at worst broken them striking so hard against platemail. Pain could lash out with an expanded repertoire of techniques, but she felt that the majority of those would be neutralized by his armor and didn't think needlessly injuring him had a purpose.

As his words came to an end, he waited only a moment before charging Pain's position. Pain's leading left hand moved out to intercept the first attack, the heel of her hand impacting with Markus' fist and generating the sting that never faded with experience. The two opposing forces neutralized each other, and both combatant's arms snapped back into position as Markus' opposite arm reached out. An idea flashed in Pain's mind as she witnessed his shoulder's movement and the twisting of the left side of his waist denoting a left handed punch. She briefly moved her right hand's guard to the inside, next twisting her body toward's Markus' right side as well. Pain slightly mistimed her block, slamming the backside of her fist into Markus' large knuckles rather than the soft pad of his wrist.

Pain bit down on her lip, the unwelcome bite of his knuckles surging throughout her right hand. It was the little things like this that would wear you down, even if you were winning. For the next few moments, a punch from her right hand would be unwise. She did had a certain technique that she had only actually used twice before in two slight variations, and it was a high risk high gain style attack. However, the stakes weren't nearly as high as the other two occurrences and Pain thought she stood little chance of getting hurt too terribly badly if things went wrong. That, and it didn't involve striking with her dominant hand which currently seemed content to whimper in Pain as if her wrist could console it.

A moment in time stood still for Pain as Markus' and her arms were entwined. She felt the soft heat of the day's young sun, the cool bite of a morning breeze, the salty froth from the nearby sea... yes, a glorious day to take risks. Who knows, maybe the teacher would learn something about her own move. Everyone reacted to it differently, it seemed.

Markus' had yet to experience what Pain's powerful legs were capable of, and though not directly part of the attack, she would begin with her legs. Her left leg, to be precise. Pain's whole world was a blur, a collage of sweat and muscle as her most powerful limb rose sharply, bent at the knee. It began here. If she could get a foothold on Markus leading leg right above the knee, she could commence an assault she was sure would surprise him. Essentially, Pain would get a foothold on his knee, and push herself up into the air. Semi-airborne, she would fall forward using her weight as momentum, and drive her right elbow down into his forehead. Her left arm would busy itself with attempting to make contact with the meaty area between his neck and shoulder on his right side, solidifying her position in the air. A risky attack for both combatants, and not one Pain found she should use on an opponent as fresh in the fight as Markus was. Then again, the idea was to teach and for him to learn, not to prove dominance or work on her own tactics.

The technique was 50/50 thus far; one administration having led to the death of her opponent, the other to her losing a fight. Though, Pain was not utilizing the technique in the fatal manner that she had in her successful attempt.

Pain's mind raced as she felt her body responding to her instinctive commands. The attack was supposition at this point; if she could make contact with his knee, then she would commence.

by **Markus Andres** on October 21st, 2010, 7:29 pm

Markus wasn't sure if he was happy or annoyed that Pain had so easily blocked both of his punches. It annoyed him because of his own belief in him being a good fighter and it pleased him because he had found a good person to show him how to become a better hand to hand fighter. The smaller fighter's last block had been quite unusual for what Markus knew. Perhaps a mistime, perhaps the start of some sort of technique. But her little block made his knuckles feel uncomfortable. At least with hitting something that hard.

Pain seemed to recover faster than Markus and Markus felt, something press against his leg. He sent his glance downwards to see what, her foot... Was pressing against his leg. Why? Then the smaller framed fighter suddenly shot up in front of Markus. Markus felt the pressure on his leg then and realized she had just used him as some sort of stepping stone to make an aerial attack. Markus preferred to have both feet planted on the ground (or his rump planted in a saddle). He felt more secure that way and he rarely jumped or kicked in fights. It upset his balance and made his defense weaker if he lacked the ground for support. Pain had just abandoned that support in favor of an attack Markus had never seen before in his life. Maybe he should go watch some fights in the city or the spinning coin. Learn how people fight.

Markus knew he couldn't stop the attack when he didn't know where it would come from, it could be anything she could dish out at him from any angle her arms or legs could come from. He simply couldn't defend all those places with his arms. So, he would do what he had done before when he had been hard pressed. He went on the offensive rather than just stand idly by. Markus would push his upper body forward again. Throwing his head into her chest for protection. He could feel something collide with the top of his head and it sent a shockwave of pain through his body. Markus yelped in pain. If he hadn't thrown his head into her chest, which he assumed, she would get pretty mad about, he would probably have been knocked out cold. Markus would shove her away from him, hopefully before she could get her legs down on the ground. This was both to get her off of him and for him to get away from her as well. As he would stumble back, still feeling tremors of pain emanate from where her elbow and triceps had hit. Markus would be very dazed. His defense really sloppy as his hands barely made any guard at all and he was having trouble standing on his feet.

by **Elhaym** on October 22nd, 2010, 5:59 am

It was a moment frozen in time as Pain and Markus' body were entangled in melee. The moment Pain decided that she really, really, really should not try to use this technique on someone who was able to defend themselves... because this was going to hurt. His head planted right into her chest, most uncomfortable for a woman to begin with, but the force of him shoving her away even as she felt the impact of his skull upon her elbow took precedence in her mind. Her foot left it's perch, and the gut wrenching feeling of having none of her extremities on terra firma gripped her stomach as if in a vice. She was in total freefall, and Pain knew what she had to do. The sound of her teeth grinding together, the clenching of her fists, the sweat cascading into the air from her forehead... Pain was an agile woman, no doubt. Markus had seen her agility, but there were limits. She knew she couldn't pull another graceful move in this situation. That was why she trained hard every day, why she ran through water rather than on the beach. She could get better, maybe even pull off an attack in just such a situation one day. One day. A day that most definitely was not today.

Pain brought her arms behind her head, bracing the back of her skull with her outer forearms. She remembered well how hard the ground was, and had experience in another fight how even hitting her head on a soft surface could daze her. Protecting her head, at least, she could pull off. Not her back. The impact was hard, instantly relieving Pain of the collected air her lungs cherished. Despite, Pain forced her body to react, pitching herself backwards and upside down into a somersault. She rolled to her knees, sputtering for air and cursing her lungs for their feebleness. A second passed, another, and she forced her body to rise. Her guard rose, but it was shaky. She observed Markus, and though she had lost track of him for a few seconds, she saw that he was in no better shape. Ah, Markus.

Yes. He had done the right thing, in her opinion. There was no way to know if it would have been a knee, elbow, fist... or if she would have attempted to jump over him and strike him in the back. He had known his limitations and not been so presumptuous as to imagine he understood his opponent's true capabilities. So, with that knowledge, he had done the only thing he could truly do in that situation. Something that was hard for many fighters to accept. He had counterattacked, and accepted that he was going to be struck.

Pain's chest was filled with fire rather than air, the collective of having the wind knocked out of her by the earth, and the harsh battering from Markus' thick skull. She could have sworn that her breasts may pop at any moment, a somewhat enraging feeling. She suppressed her anger, knowing that the discomfort was temporary and he had meant no true harm. He acted out of self preservation, something Pain felt she had imposed upon him. The Squires of Syliras did indeed make excellent students.

"If... your master was here... (gasping)... would he call that... a draw?" Pain croaked out, her voice a hoarse whisper. Her left leg slid forward, her weight fell to the pads of her feet beneath her toes. She began to shift her weight from leg to leg, ever so slightly. Her guard steadied. She was a tough bitch. She had to be, because she had assumed the role of teacher. Her father never eased up on her brother when he had taught him the art of war, and she intended to give Markus the same treatment.

Only a brief moment in time for Markus to answer was allowed before Pain acted. Truthfully, she was hurting. Her right hand throbbed, and her back felt like she had been clubbed by a berserk Jamoura. She couldn't let it hinder her, and she bit her lip and tried to dull the pain with only her willpower. She slipped into a steady stream of the basics, moving into attacking range of the Squire with her shuffling hopwalk. Her movement was an oddity but it was fast, as was her left arm. It was a crossbow, her fist the bolt. She fired. Her intention was to unleash a full scale barrage of jabs, rear straights, hooks, uppercuts and bodyblows.

Rise to the challenge, Squire of Syilras. Show a humble citizen that you're made of sterner stuff than she.

by **Markus Andres** on October 26th, 2010, 11:24 pm

Markus sight was wishy washy as he tried to focus on the figure. He blinked a couple of times, which helped his vision by a fraction. Not enough to be useful and his brain was having a hard time focusing on his opponent. Pain had really done a good trick on him then, plus, the pain from the top of his head wasn't making things better. Markus shook his head violently. Then tried to focus on the figure again. Taunting him. It annoyed him. She annoyed him. He had been bested so easily. He heard a voice but he could not make out the words. But he could almost sense a lack of air in the voice it belonged. Markus wasn't sure how to respond, so he just shrugged. It was probably worse than no response, but then again, he couldn't focus his thoughts to say anything.

Every ounce of determination were focused on keeping his fists up and not being pounded into the ground. He had no idea if Pain would attack him, nor did he care. His guard was up and he would just have to wait and see. Then he saw something move. It was a very quick strike that Markus tried to intercept, but bam. Markus stood his ground, feeling the small woman's fist slide across his face. Snapping his head back. Sending shivers of pain through his body. He felt the follow up collide against his guard that was still up and moving. He had no idea what was going on, for the next moment a hook zoomed right past his loose guard and send Markus falling for the ground. Markus would wish he had had the mental capacity to do anything to soften his fall. But the 6'1'' boy just fell to the ground like a heavy sack of potatoes.

If Pain chose to stick around, it would be some 10 chimes before Markus began to groan loudly because of the pain that swept through his body. Mostly from his head. He could vaguely remember what was the reason for his predicament. His fight with Pain. He didn't bother to open his eyes, he just opened his mouth and softly said.

"Opit..." He would try to give out a tough laughter but he just coughed a little. Automatically sliding a hand down to his side. Where he didn't find his blade. It must have fallen off or something.

"Ough my head..." He groaned a little later.

by **Elhaym** on October 27th, 2010, 7:01 am

Pain snickered as Markus roused, finally giving the notion to cease after he'd been out for ten chimes. "Mornin' sunshine, didn't know if you were gonna wake up or not. You lookin' for this?" Pain said in a light tone. She was a little off to his right, and standing. To Marcus' blurry vision, he would probably notice that she was in fact holding his blade. She strolled towards him and bent down at his side, offering the handle of the blade to him. Knight's did usually seem terribly attached to their weapons, but she couldn't help her curiosity when she had seen it laying there unattended. It had been heavy in her hands, though not as awkward as the last time she had tried to hold one. That had been... yes, almost a decade.

As Markus regained his senses, Pain watched him with careful scrutiny. She hadn't gone easy on him in the end, which may have been a little unfair. Pain liked to think that if he strapped her into full plate and gave her a longsword, she'd probably be in the same spot right now. No harm, no foul. In her opinion, anyway. "Hey, Markus. You're a tough son of a bitch, you know that? I think you really kinda got it down there, you know, all the stuff I said before. So, one of the things I didn't yell ya... is that when you fight someone, theres only one winner, and one loser. You can't worry about whether or not someone is better than you, or you've lost before you start. You just gotta give them hell, give them everything you got... I mean, what else can you do?" She said, giving him a harsh pat on the shoulder.

He had done well, in fact. When the going got tough, Marcus had gotten tougher. He had reacted more or less the way Pain had told him to react. She hadn't gone over her mindset in a fight in total detail, and she had left a whole slew of things out. The fact remained that Markus had fought to his best ability and handled every situation Pain threw at him the best way he could, and he hadn't backed down. When he saw the knockout blow coming, he hadn't faltered. Fought to the last blow. She liked that. Damned if all the Knights in Syliras were this tough when they were Squires, she could see why the city was so safe.

"Hey Markus, when you stop seein' stars, I got a few things to ask you. You know, about the Knights. That was the deal, eh?" She said, rolling back onto her butt and folding her legs in front of her. She placed a hand on each knee, and slowly began rocking back and forth. She'd waited a while already, a little more time wouldn't kill her.