[Sanctuary] Going Through The Motions [Kavala]

by **Raiha** on November 21st, 2010, 3:22 am

Closed. Kavala, please.

85th of Fall, 510 AV.

It had been a busy morning, and Raiha was merely thankful for the activity that kept her limbs moving. She wasn’t used to the cold chill that descended on Riverfall, and earlier in the season she had found herself caving and going to the Zhongjie Warren to get herself some warmer clothes. While her fingers were slowly, oh so slowly, acclimating to the cold, the Akontak had decided to go by increments. Not even Kanikra had suggested sticking her hands in ice water, then going about her chores to toughen her hands up. She relied on those hands too, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled by the weather, either, but neither of them was really up for arguing about it. There had been remarkably fewer arguments about the lesser details ever since they had been visited by Akajia. They still had their differences – that would never change – but the Goddess had made them far more receptive to each other and understanding their individual points of view. Kanikra had received a very important lesson on the benefits of working with Raiha, rather than against her, and while Raiha didn’t talk much about it… there were little, subtle differences in the way the Akontak carried herself and behaved that hinted at something having happened.

With the stalls cleaned, the mews practically sparkling, and no animals that were in immediate need of healing, Raiha had decided to get to practicing. She might have liked to have gone and practiced reimancy, or saw if there was any herbs out worth gathering now… but at the same time, she could use the practice with the weapon. Kanikra had had a point. The suvai wouldn’t save her for all her uselessness at it, but if she could just connect with the mace… then, well, it would help. She picked up one of her sister’s… well… their… maces from the mews and her suvai, which she linked onto her belt. She could come back and get the bows later. People are going to try to hurt you, Kanikra reminded her. If you can’t defend yourself, how can you defend your friends? We need to practice.

Raiha knew Kanikra was right then. Just as Kanikra conceded it was better to focus that aggression against those who showed an interest in hurting them, they needed the skills, at least, to be able to do that damage. If she only threw a half-assed effort at it, their abilities would only be half-assed at best. I’m on it, Raiha told her twin. I’m on it. They preferred to practice the mace at the twilight hours, if only because that was a weapon that could be disturbing when you really got at it. They may have seen it as a particular dance, but to some, it was violent, violent, violent. Maybe that was the problem with practicing with the heavier weaponry, even here. If you landed a blow, you could potentially end someone’s life.

Stop worrying about that, Kanikra gave her a mental pinch as Raiha hefted approached the dummy in the corner. If you do break something on someone that matters, then you can try to heal them. Or Kavala can. Either way, do not worry about it. Let’s just get to it. There’s a lot to do, especially if you want to work on everything… things pop up, after all. The Akontak was wearing one of her warm, hooded woolen tunics over her leather trousers today, her other shirts layered up underneath it, and her bigger leather vest over top of the tunic. The hood stuck out over the back, and her thick white hair had been braided from her forehead to the nape of her neck along the hair line, and then braided into one. That braid had been coiled into a wide, fat bun that was held in place on the back of her head with sticks. Even without the layers of clothing that she wore, she had been filling out and gaining weight and some muscle tone. Stretch first. Last thing we need are cramps.

Setting the mace against the dummy, the Akontak started her warm-ups, going through the now-familiar motions that she used to warm up, stretching her legs, arms, back, and neck as she stretched and relaxed muscles, by themselves and against each other. Only once she was sure she was loose did she go to get the mace again, deftly picking it up with a swift, easy movement by bending at the waist, swinging her arm down and grabbing it, one leg extended in the air for balance as she straightened and stood on two feet again. She backed up, away from her target and gripped her mace, forming her fingers around it. In a sudden movement, she stepped up to the dummy, twisting off of her lagging foot as her arm swung from her side in a fluid movement straight up, towards the tightly-bound pile of reeds.

WHAM!

The shock of hitting it reverberated to her shoulder, and by then, Raiha was looking to hit it again, a determined look on her face as she struck from a different angle, the same movement as a back-handed slap, the flanged head of the mace rebounding off of the reeds. She retreated, her body recoiling again, only to lunge forward, slamming the mace into the dummy from above. She worked on her breathing, keeping it regulated and even – Kanikra used to harass her for holding her breath when she was practicing anything. That had been a bad habit that she had had to work to beat. A rhythm established, two hits to every step, backing up only to attack again… Raiha let herself get into it. That was how you trained yourself to get used to it, to train your body the same way she trained her hands and arms with the bowl of sand that she kept in the mews that Hatot had told her to work with the season before.

It was its own method of dance that came from practice. She had a long way to go before she could ever match Woredev’s rhythm, but even he started at the bottom at the beginning, Raiha reminded herself. So there was no shame in practicing. She swapped arms, going back and forth to work both of them. If she was going to ever use both of those maces at once, then she had to get both arms used to using them. But by the time she set the mace down and rotated her arms under the tunic, Kanikra was even grudgingly approving. Well done. A breather, and then practice something else. Her hands had started to get cold some time ago, but now that she wasn't working them, she was feeling it. She pulled them into the sleeves of her tunic, wrapping them in the cloth before jamming them in her pockets to try to warm them briefly. Her cheeks were a faint purple from the chill in the air, even as she raised a shoulder and arm to rub her face against the cloth to get rid of the sweat, twisting her body a little to keep moving even as she set it down and see if anything else was going on around her.

by **Kavala** on December 18th, 2010, 9:01 pm

It was later in the morning than she'd like to be back at Sanctuary when the konti came breezing back through the gate that lead from the beach. Kavala had taken her customary run only this time she'd managed to make it all the way to the city via the beach where she picked up a few things she'd had on order from the Arma'Drex Smithy. Most of her order wasn't ready and wouldn't be until Winter, but the most important parts were and she was happy to accept them early. Part of the bill was paid for now, the rest with the completion of the order and delivery the first of winter. She was particularly impressed with the iridescent inlay on her blades, and hadn't minded the extra cost which was cut considerably when she'd bargained to provide them with the shell she desired.

And while she couldn't have her armor or weapons harness until next season - all of it being made custom - she did have sturdy leather gear to change into that allowed her to practice her daggers in a relatively safe manner. Horses had been fed and turned out well before she left and though there were no clients with pressing needs at the moment, she was always available in the courtyard in case an emergency showed up. So it was that Kavala joined Raiha with a nod when she found her friend already working on her mace techniques in the main arena. There was no need to warm up beyond some brief stretching. Kavala's run had seen to that. In fact, all of her morning runs had slowly hardened soft round flesh into a lean muscled form that flared out over corded thighs grown tough from training horses and riding across the Sea of Grass. Swiming with Raiha had helped her upper body tremendously, muscles she'd never used as a child.

Kavala was definitely changing, not even remotely resembling the konti girl who'd sat on her father's lap with her sister and demanded one of his infamous stories. She never cried anymore, and she certainly never complained though she'd not been prone to as a youngling. Instead, she was something else, something transformed by the Akalak culture all around her and in a large part by her sister's influence. Kavala listened to Akela, learned from her, and trusted her now in ways she never had before. There was always love between them, but now, somehow, there was a great deal more.

Kavala walked out onto the arena and noted that her target that she set up for her blowgun and her bolas was still resting against the far wall of the arena. They used it to train horses as well, riding them by and dropping reins to fire arrows off their backs or throw spears at. Everything at Sanctuary had a function, a use, and it was critical in that way because space needed to definitely be saved. Even she had a dual nature; healer and horse trainer. Hatot did too; warrior and teacher. It was something to be proud of.

Kavala shook out her arms, stretched her spine and upper body again, and then took out her daggers. She carefully ran through her finger warm-up exercises, limbering up the digits. Each hand was warmed up individually and then ran through the motion of drawing and holding a dagger. While she was doing this, Kavala was mentally reviewing the rules of daggers.

Rule number one was easy. Never duck out of the way of your opponent’s attack. You will most likely get a knife in your face. Stand upright as much as possible. Don't slouch. Don't take your eyes off your opponents weapons. It was an easy rule to follow. She remembered it well from the lessons she took with her father, Eachann. Kavala shook herself, halted, then took a deep breath willing herself to remember the second.

Don’t fight or spar with anyone significantly taller or shorter than yourself unless you are both experienced knife fighters unless you absolutely don't have a choice because its a life and death situation. That made sense. Knife fighting was an artform in and of itself. Without that rule to follow through with, there would be a lot of issues of safety when it came to sparring.

Keep all attacks below shoulder height. If you raised your arm, and weren't experienced, you opened your body to your opponents attack. Lifting an arm is freeing up your torso for a nasty cut from the enemy. Always have your daggers guarding your body. Nothing more, nothing less.

The fourth rule came abruptly into her mind. Attacks should be cuts to or across your opponent's body - do not use a stabbing motion with the blade straight and tip-forward. Okay that was important. Kavala reviewed that fact in her mind, checked her stance, and started her stabbing motion making sure her blade was part of the arch and not straight with tip forward.

Finally, there was one last hard and fast rule. When using a thrust, ensure your wrist is not locked. Okay that was easy enough to remember. As Kavala was loosening up, she thought of this and made sure her wrists had lots of inflection, rolling them and twisting them so they were not locked in the least. Once she was ready, Kavala stepped over and smiled at Raiha. "You don't mind if I share the arena do you? To throw some daggers around and warm up? We might as well spar later too... though I'm not sure what weapons you have. Maybe your Suvai?" Kavala said, eying Raiha's mace and wondering at its sudden appearance.

Arma'Drex Smithy Order :

by **Raiha** on March 2nd, 2011, 5:25 am

She smiled back at Kavala, following her gaze to the mace and tucking her hands inside the pocket on her tunic for now out of habit. It’s just a weapon. She has her own, Kanikra reminded her. I’m not going to use it on her, so relax already, would you? She pulled out the leather cover for the mace’s head and loosened it before sliding it over the deadly, flanged end and pulled the drawstring tight, setting the mace further away to the side. It wasn’t a weapon one used on a friend, after all. She wasn’t sure she’d ever want to use it to practice with someone she wouldn’t want injured. That made the poor dummy the best target ever to practice with.

“No, no,” Raiha shook her head, and brought one of her hands up to tuck some strands of hair back behind her ear. “I was going to switch to the Suvai now, anyway.” She rolled her shoulders a bit. This was definitely Raiha – Kanikra was far more like the snake that stayed motionless until the time came to strike. It must have been that sister’s day today. But those days had been melding together until one lost track of who was supposed to be in charge that day and the Akontak reverted to her own system of Raiha running around until Kanikra wanted it. But from under the heavy tunic Raiha pulled her Suvai from her belt, turning it over in her hand as her fingers tentatively went over the whalebone prongs. She hadn’t used her suvai since that night with Akasha, who had hence gone home to go and see her family. The Akontak had felt the bond break, just like Laeraix’s had, and wondered about it to herself. Internally she blamed herself for it, and kept it close to her vest as always. Asim knew that it was bothering her, and Kanikra had told her to let it go, but it wasn’t that easy.

But she pushed those lingering thoughts away for now, and straightened up to her full height, gripping the handle like one would a sponge, working her fingers over it the way Marishka had taught her how as she ran her tongue over her teeth and smiled at Kavala. “Do you want to practice first? Or spar now?” she could use a few chimes to warm up as she turned her wrist with the blade, rotating her arm and letting the suvai become a part of her, an extension of her, before lowering it again to her side.

by **Kavala** on March 3rd, 2011, 5:55 pm

Kavala stretched, nodding to Raiha. “Let’s warm up first and practice.” The Konti said, fingering her daggers hanging at her belt and pulling the Tamo daggers out. They looked like a long smooth stick of wood, but when yanked apart became two long fine daggers. Kavala could not yet dual wield them, so what she did instead was work with one of them at a time, swiftly switching hands to boost her dexterity in her left and weaker grasp.

Thinking in terms of dagger was becoming part of her. Most people thought of large arms when they thought of defending themselves. But Kavala knew that in combat situations, small arms were always the weapons of choice because long reach weapons like swords became useless in confined areas. Rooms, narrow passages, even a heavily wooded forest could hinder swinging a sword but not a dagger. And the added bonus of a dagger was that if you armed yourself with multiple copies of your singular weapon, you could sacrifice one or two turning it into a ranged weapon rather than a melee weapon. All this ran through her mind as she grasped the Tamo and moved through her already memorized dagger forms.

Inhale deeply, exhale deeply, stretch, flex, bend… the Konti felt her body adapt to having a lethal weapon on the end of her hand. Konti’s were fighters by nature, though most people didn’t understand that. All creatures of the sea were. Whether by magic, by weapon, or by knowledge all Konti wanted to defend themselves despite how they looked and how they appeared to others. And besides that, she was Drykas overlayed on top of her Konti platform. Delicate and determined; they were something of a lethal combination. Kavala’s eyes strayed to Raiha, and she understood inherently that the Akontak was twice what she was – having been born of two races who were both more than the Gods could predict.

Kavala slipped a hand down to cover her womb, wondering inherently what grew within. Would it be a girl with snow white skin? Or perhaps it would be a boy with blue skin and two souls? Or something in between – something like Raiha. Kavala refocused back onto the daggers, running through her angles of attack once more.

There were nine angles of attack when one learned dagger. Kavala faced a fence post, envisioned it the man who lead the slaver caravan, and mentally ran through the attacks. The first angle of attack was a downward diagonal slash, stab, or strike toward the left side of the defender's head, neck, or torso. Kavala used this as a kata, moving into the motion, her mind mentally saying ‘First Kata… first attack. First line of defending myself.”
The second angle was a downward diagonal slash, stab, or strike toward the right side of the defender's head, neck, or torso. Kavala’s body switched gracefully, smoothly, moving into the motion. It felt like dancing and as she moved through the forms, it freed up her muscles, and drew her closer into a bond with her dagger and her body. A horizontal attack to the left side of the defender's torso in the ribs, side, or hip region became the third angle of attack and she moved through it and fluidly into the fourth, which was the same as the third only to the right side. The fifth angle came from a jabbing, lunging, or punching attack directed straight toward the defender's front. This she preformed carefully, quickly, wanting death immediately. The tip of her dagger embedded firmly into the fence post. She pulled it free, grinned, and moved onto the sixth attack. It was an attack directed straight down upon the defender. This was a hard one for Kavala because she didn’t have the height. She compensated with an leap upwards that brought her height up to where it should be.

The seventh was easier, because it was an upward diagonal attack toward the defender's lower-left side.An upward diagonal attack toward the defender's lower-right side, constituted the eighth angle. It was a match to number seven. Kavala followed through, motioning the attack. The ninth attack was Kavala’s favorite, an attack directed straight up-for example, to the defender's groin.

Once done, Kavala smiled, leaned against her post, and nodded to Raiha. “I’m ready to spar now if you’d like.”

by **Raiha** on April 1st, 2011, 1:40 am

Raiha nodded when Kavala suggested a few chimes to warm up. That certainly worked for her as she brought her gaze back down to the whalebone, gripping it tightly for a moment before relaxing her grip and settling into a proper hold, her fingers wrapped around the handle. Don’t swing too lightly, and don’t stab too roughly, Marishka had told her. Kanikra repeated it now. If you over extend yourself or you underwhelm them, they’re easy to parry. Strike the balance and strike your opponent. By the by, don’t forget your fist, you know, even if she is pregnant. Though I suppose we can’t gut-punch her now with anyone watching, her sister sighed. Adaptability will have to be your strong suit. So we’ll work on countering the dagger with the suvai, and pushing her away with our free hand…

Hello, Raiha was astonished, she is pregnant. Are you insane? Oh, sorry, bad question. She extended her legs, shifting her center to give herself more room to move and draw back upon. She was going to have to really be on her toes. It made sense that Kavala would have an advantage in close-quarters - she was shorter and could probably squeeze in under Raiha’s longer arms and legs. For all that people extolled the taller and bigger people as more fearsome fighters, Raiha was more than aware of what a Konti could do if they wanted to do it, small and lithe as they were. She’d been raised by them, and they were very much the embodiment of floating like a butterfly, and stinging like a very angry wasp.

Well, she asked to spar, Kanikra defended her suggestions. Besides, you’re not just going to give her license to walk all over you in this just because she’s pregnant, are you? Just do it properly. You’re not at the stage of using two suvai yet, and luckily for us, she doesn’t seem to be using two daggers. If you want to think in terms of strength, concentrate on making proper attacks that you would on her if she wasn’t pregnant, and stop just before you nail them. Flow like the water, dance like the clouds. And if you hit like an Olidosopaux, so much the better! Flowing motions. The suvai was made for defense; the trick is using it now in offense. But I mean it, Raiha, if she is prepared to use that other hand on you; then you had better be ready to fight back. There’s no reason you cannot do well with this. I’ve got your back.

I’ll do my best, Raiha promised her twin. It had taken something for Kanikra to say that, after all, Raiha had to give something back. Doing anything less than their best would not do – it wouldn’t satisfy Kanikra, and really, Raiha shouldn’t have allowed herself to settle for it. She relaxed her grip and hooked her thumb between one of the shorter prongs and the middle one, letting the suvai swing loosely from her grasp to point downwards, extending to her elbow, and closed her three fingers along the other side, using her pointer finger to run along the handle. That kept it nice and tight against her arm. It wouldn’t do her much good against Kavala’s daggers – deflecting a sharp and pointy blade was different than something else for blocking. She went back to the other grip, relaxing her fingers and straightening them to run it along the handle and essentially flipped the weapon, making sure her thumb was on the knot behind the stem.

Raiha tried not to focus on the different types of strikes – she would otherwise start over-thinking things, and that wouldn’t be of any good to her in combat. There were the basics – one could attack from above, below, to the side, or a straight-out stab. She could strike with the hilt, or she could strike with the blades. She lunged at the air, blade extended, keeping it level, and realized that this would not do as soon as Kanikra started pestering her again. Adjust. She’s too short for that. You’ll want to aim a little lower, because you can’t go much higher. She drew back again, shifting her weight to her back foot in order to retract. Flow like the water. She stabbed again, further down, keeping her other hand up defensively. Strike, draw back. Strike, draw back. Right hand and left. She twisted the suvai again, projecting the hilt and punched the air almost viciously with it, withdrawing, getting her fingers on the hilt again, and sweeping the longer spike across in a slashing motion, flowing back, and swiping again, only to stab backwards, driving the whalebone blade down. Not bad. Just keep doing that, Kanikra told her. And remember, watch out for the blade.

The Akontak turned back to Kavala when she spoke up again, and smiled back at her, nodding. “Good to go,” she gave a verbal affirmation that she, too, was ready, as she moved the suvai with the fingers of her right hand, starting with the blade out as she lunged, not wasting time with a fancy strike, aiming for Kavala’s upper torso, her free hand balling up in a fist that went straight for the Konti’s belly. She certainly didn’t expect her fist to connect, but she was prepared to stop its trajectory if she by freak hapchance did.

by **Kavala** on May 23rd, 2011, 4:59 pm

Kavala wasn't anything like Raiha assumed as a fighter. As she summed up her opponent, whom Kavala saw as young, tall, and slightly ungainly, her head was full of calm thoughts. Sparring with Raiha was a lot like sparring with a man because of her size and height. Kavala also hoped Raiha underestimated other things about her.

The Konti had been training fiercely almost since she'd came to Riverfall. Her body was corded now with muscle, and besides the baby bulk, there was no excess fat on her. She'd been training so hard in fact, running and in hand to hand that she knew the best way to deal with any opponent that was probably a full foot taller and forty pounds heavier.

Kavala was warmed up, stretched out, and ready to spar. Kavala drew her specially made dagger, lightly gripped it in her hand and struck up her defensive stance. Her feet were lightly apart, weight evenly distributed on the balls of her feet. Her center was high and light in her body and she smiled slightly in anticipation of this test of her skills.

Kavala blinked a bit in surprise as Raiha lunged. She thought that was a bit rash, especially since her unarmed fist made to strike at the same time as the girl lunged with the Suvai. "You outta have more respect for your weapon, Raiha." Kavala said as she slipped under the lunge, twisted sideways and completely avoided Raiha's fist and weapon as Raiha's momentum carried her past the Konti and presented the konti with an undefended back. Kavala slapped it sharply with the flat of her blade right where it could pierce a lung and possibly get her heart from behind. "Dead." She said firmly and danced back out of the way.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that you have to either commit to a weapon or throw it down and brawl? This isnt' a barfight, Raiha. This is a practice defending your life which you are doing a piss poor job of if you think you can split your attention between your suavi and your fist. " Kavala said, making no move to attack. She simply danced lightly in place just out of Raiha's reach, letting the Akontak make the next move.

by **Raiha** on June 12th, 2011, 11:27 pm

Saw that happening, Kanikra drawled. She’s right, you know. Engage, tangle, and then strike with your fist.

Somehow, you’re not making me feel any better, Raiha caught herself, carried too far, but at least she managed not to fall flat on her face. She turned back to face Kavala, not at all non-plussed by the way her attempt at starting had failed. She had plenty to learn, that much was for sure, and she certainly didn’t mind being taught. Her problem was trying to do too much at once. It might have worked, if she could have convinced someone to keep an eye on the suvai and miss the fist from the angle of her body, but Kavala clearly wasn’t about to be fooled by little sleight of hand tricks like that. Well, it had been worth a shot.

No, it really hadn’t been. You let them reveal their hand first, because, there you go; neat as you please, now she knows how much you have been neglecting your training in this aspect of things. Oh, well. If you’re going to look stupid, you might as well do it with your friends who won’t hardly judge you for it, but will laugh and make fun of you for a few hours and get over it. Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.

Raiha was largely unconcerned about Kanikra judging her and finding her wanting, though that had changed a bit since they had met Akajia. But Kanikra was never happy anyway. Kavala’s judgment there would sting a little bit, because the Konti was amongst the few Raiha counted as a friend. She turned, facing Kavala as she danced and chewed her out. The Akontak nodded slightly. She had earned that chewing-out. She wouldn’t dispute it, nor argue with it, nor make fun of herself for that failure.

She started back towards Kavala, not lunging, but actually walking. Her empty hand hung loose by her side, but the fingers seemed ready to curl into a fist again. Clearly, that was a habit that the Akontak was not going to let go of. “No,” she shook her head slightly. “Because sometimes it works. It didn’t work here and I failed to time it and execute it properly.” She was facing Kavala, then, when she dropped her center a little bit, and kept herself anchored with her left foot before passing a short lunge her way, aiming for the Konti’s right shoulder, gripping the suvai’s handle the way Marishka had taught her, being far more careful about overextending herself this time.

by **Kavala** on June 20th, 2011, 6:46 pm

"It might work against fools, Raiha, and I know Mura is full of enough of them. But here, you are surrounded by warriors. They are bigger, stronger, and most of them have trained since even before they can walk. We are outclassed here, out sized, and underskilled." Kavala reaffirmed, just as Raiha relaxed and attacked. One thing she knew for certain was that you avoid, escape and evade, or disarm your armed attacker and attack your attacker preferably with their own weapon in combat. You take out or neutralize your enemy or their weapon capabilities, rather than defend. One never defended. It was battle from the point weapons were drawn to the point someone was on the ground dead or neutralized.

Kavala knew that disarming knives and suvai required breaking a reactionary gap, controlling distance, and evading diagonally forward and away from the weapons travel when the weapon is beyond the point of no return and fully engaged at its target. In this case, Raiha's target was herself - her shoulder to be exact. Evading diagonally forward insured the highest likelihood of making the suvai miss and gave Kavala constant vision of the weapon before during and post the evasion phase. Her mind processed this all quickly even as Raiha lunged forward. Evade diagonally forward not backward or sidewards, she told herself and stepped forward, arms up. Immediately post evasion - assess decide and employ the most economical and effective means of disposing of the threat or if an immediate disposal is not possible disarm, disable, and dispose of the threat.

Raiha was in trouble. A straight thrust was the easiest to avoid, disarm, and disable from.

Kavala closed the gap, coming for her rapidly to screw up her brains already calculated distance between the the two women and was under the suvai pushing Raiha's whole forearm up with her left hand before the thrust could connect. Even though Raiha's free hand was still unoccupied, Kavala had Raiha's suvai pointed to the sky and Raiha's whole torso exposed to her dagger before that hand could do anything. She smacked Raiha's heart with the flat of her blade and said 'Dead'. Kavala wasn't trying to grandstand, show up Raiha, or do anything to embarrass her. She was instead trying to teach the girl to be more rational about her fighting.

Raiha was bigger, but she wasn't stronger. Kavala had trained long and hard, worked hours with Hatot, building her strength and body conditioning so she could learn to defend herself and fight off any intruder who was willing to hurt her or her friends.

Kavala's left arm was still thrusting Raiha's right arm into the sky as she said so, but after the word 'dead' was called, Kav twisted sideways, stepped out of the way, and released her arm. It was stupid to loose sight of a weapon like that, even if the kill was sure. There could be a hidden weapon in the empty hand or even an enemy even closer one didn't know about. Raiha could have had armor on under her tunic that she didn't know about. Any number of factors could have come into play. But they were sparring, so Kavala expected no tricks.

"Straight thrusts with Suvai are easily defended against. If I was bigger, stronger, or had a larger hand, I could have disarmed you. If I wasn't intending to kill you, I could have kicked you in the stomach with a knee this close and had you down on the ground. Then you would have been tussed up, raped, or worse. Everyone's always better, Raiha. Everyone's always stronger. You have to think dirty and use your brain not rely on the weapon to do your work for you." Kavala said, stepping back. She reversed her grip on the blade and waited for Raiha's reaction.

by **Raiha** on August 9th, 2011, 5:45 pm

Raiha was not frustrated. The tiny little part of her that was still a child wanted to be, but that was one little part that was easily soothed and shushed, or intimidated into silence by her sister-soul. It had been for a long time, to the point where it was essentially nonexistent. This, Kanikra said dryly, is why I like my maces. If you’re fast enough with them... Much more effective. Instead, Raiha straightened, and listened once again, letting her suvai fall down to her side. She did eye the way Kavala kept switching her dagger from hand to hand, though, and considered doing the same, but thought the better of it for now. It wouldn't do her any favours.

She nodded, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully as she considered how best to approach this as she played with her first suvai before wrapping her fingers around the handle, lining her fingers up as she had before so that both were pointing forward now. Twisting her body to provide less of a target might have helped, assuming she chose to slash with the suvai, since that... that seemed to really be the best option now, since straight thrusts were so easy to defend against. But she supposed that made sense. It was how they were good for blocking other weapons. When they defended, they got caught, and then she ended up with a knee in the gut.

Reasonable.

But Kavala was right, she knew. She was raised by the Drykas, and the Drykas had their hands full just living with all the attacks and dangers they faced on the Sea of Grass. It wasn’t a far stretch to acknowledge the fact that the Konti she was squaring off against now was nothing like the fair flowers of the daughters of Mura who disappeared if she came out to play. Kavala was not scared of her - probably just the opposite. She didn’t mind. Friends respected each other. It wasn’t friendship when it was fear. She knew that now.

Raiha considered her next course of action. There hadn’t been any criticism about her form that time, but for the attempted stab. So the quick movement, which probably wasn’t all that quick to the lithe Konti, was good. The faster retreat was better. That was what she was supposed to do, dance in and out away from the blades. It wasn’t like the maces, or, rather, in some ways it was. The dance came from working the weapons and crushing your opponent into a bloody pulpy mess while trying to avoid their attacks.

It was very different than fighting with a dummy.

“You're right... Okay,” she nodded again, and positioned her feet again, just under her shoulders, knees bent, and made another pass at the Konti, aiming for her left side, looking to try to rake the suvai upwards, trying to slash at her, her free hand curled in a fist up by her own chest in a defensive position, looking to try to prevent the same result as the last time.

by **Kavala** on December 5th, 2011, 4:55 pm

The attack, when it came, was far better this time. There was no stepping into a upwards slash, unless one wanted to eat suvai and Kavala was sure her stomach didn't want one buried in it. That Raiha was using her right hand to slash upwards and left gave only one option for Kavala, and that was to dance to the right trying to dodge out of the way. Kavala was proud that she actually had to dodge this one rather than take the opening Raiha gave her and dart in for the kill. Raiha was too protected with that type of move. Now, if she'd only gotten her fist out, behind her, balancing her the form would have been perfect. Kavala wasn't going to get hit, not if she could help it, but she also wasn't going to pause between each of Raiha's moves anymore. Instead, she brought her own dagger up, clutched in her right hand, and aimed it right for Raiha's side which was open to her since Raiha's arm was busy with the follow through.

"The advantage in letting someone attack first is that you get to see what they are doing. In a real fight, its more chaotic... less conceived. If we don't have our bodies trained enough to react without thought we're both going to be dead when it comes to the real thing. The only difference is going to be how we die - raiders, glassbeaks, grass lions - and I don't know about you, but I'd rather these things be automatic than not." Kavala said, breathless. If Raiha didn't block her, she'd only slap her side with the flat of her blade like she had been doing.

"You shouldn't have your arm tucked in like that. Its like cutting off a cat's tail. No balance. You should have your arm out like I have mine, to the side, slightly behind, ready to use it for balance to swing and shift as I need too." Kavala said. "You're also giving up an advantage, Raiha. You're attacking first. Half the point of a knife fight is getting close, getting brutal, and no one waiting their turn. It makes me look a lot better than I am to watch for your openings because your leading me." Kavala said, noting something interesting though.

Kavala was confident that throughout Raiha's life she'd always be far better with the mace than the Suvai. Raiha was straightforward, loved to use her strength and her weight against her opponents - especially her height - and the mace was so much better for that than the Suvai which took a delicate touch. There was not a lot delicate about Raiha at the moment as gangly of a youth as she was. She'd be a great beauty though and probably come out of her adolescence with far more grace than Kavala for that matter. But right here, right now, Suvai training helped Raiha in the same way ballet training helped fighters. It gave her more control than she'd have otherwise, and Kavala liked that.

Regardless of what Raiha did - countering her or letting her slap her side - Kavala's next move would be to reverse her dagger and do an upper cut to Raiha's head. Kavala wanted to see just how the Akontak reacted when something was threatening her neck so neatly. She wondered if she'd back off, dodge sideways or block.