How not to use rope (Solo)

[Ndale Soromund]

Season of Winter, Day 40, 511AV Hitching her sack onto her shoulder Ndale moved away from her cottage and away from the city, she had attempted to practice in her cottage but…well, it would be interesting explain to whoever lived in the cottage beside hers why their window was broken. But that was not her main concern now. No, another small though had invaded her head, humans while different were strangely similar to the animals they prided themselves as ‘better than’, especially the ones in Zeltiva. So full of themselves and yet…so intriguing. It was through them she had caught wind of tournament, a battle of wills and skills of all mannerism, so long as you could fight, you could enter. She wondered at going but a chance to immerse herself fully another of their strange habits could not be missed, did humans enjoy cruelty so much? Or were they simply sadistic by nature? Or were they akin to the animals, a show of dominance, of pride, of skill and stature much like the Zeltivians prided themselves on their knowledge? So many questions and no answers. Such fun! But to be able to answer said questions she would need to be able to enter the tournament. And that required practice. The only weapon she was familiar with or had any knowledge of was her Meteor Hammer but she could not even get the proper momentum going. She wondered if switching to a sword might be better but could not bring herself to. Shaking off her thoughts she reached an area not far from her cottage but far enough away from everywhere else that it would be easy to practice, no people, sparse trees a ways away. It was perfect. She dropped her sack to the floor and dug out the weapon, making sure she packed water and some food, she would not feel like hunting after this, of that she had no doubt. The weapon itself was nothing huge, a long thick rope with a small steel ball at the end. Harmless really. But she had seen it’s versatile nature, so carefully hidden and fallen in love with the weapon. Though she could not wield it to save her life. Straightening out she stepped more towards the ‘center’ of her practice space and began to wrap the excess cord around her arm, she had brushed up on her reading of the weapon to remember the most basic of things. First she must tie a portion to one end of her wrist, wrapping it carefully an leaving enough extra for her to hold in her hand comfortably and enough for her to swing. Considering the rope itself 5 meters long it was a bit of problem at first, everything time she got it around her wrist it was too loose, slipping and jerking when she tried to lift the weighted side with her other hand. The coils looping heavily around her wrist and even falling past her hand at times. It was too much and simply too big of a rope for her. Frowning she glared at the rope before walking over to her pack, digging through it she spotted her eating knife and stomped back towards the weapon, picking it up she carefully tugged off what she assumed was too much excess and began to cut. It was slow work, her knife not being the sharpest but she managed to get it, after many chimes of sawing and howling in frustration. The new rope measured around two and half meters this time and was significantly easier to hold, she did not even have to wrap it around her wrist, instead going for the more relaxed style of holding the extra in your hand in loose coil. It was also a style hard to work with because it depended entirely upon the grip of the hand holding the excess. One slip or too heavy of a ball on the end and the rope would go flying away from you and you would be left weaponless. Feeling a bit more at ease with herself thanks to the grip she tightened her right hand on the extra rope coil, her left hand allowing to enough excess between her two hands and so that it could properly touch the floor. Now, if she recalled what she read correctly and those distant lessons on Mura her first step was to control the momentum, easier down with a double-sided meteor but not impossible, her right arm would act as the anchor and lengthener. It’s all in the wrist. The words came unbidden, a memory she could only foggily recall but the words were as fresh as the phantom pain the bloomed in her forehead. Her first lesson had been a failure, an painful albeit amusing failure, this time she would be better. Sort of. But it was enough time for thought! Time to put the words of the text to use. Taking the snippet of the words memories she slowly began to rotate her wrist, swinging the ball in a slow and wobbly circle, flinching each time it bumped the ground, she had too much slack. But the process was about trial and error. Looping more in her right hand she once more began to rotate her left hand, watching in slight annoyance as the ball still brushed the ground and this time jerked her arm roughly as she spun to hard and wide. Gasping she released it completely from her left hand and swung her body in the direction it flew. Obviously she needed to hold a shorter amount of this was not going to work. Wrapping most in a loose circle she clutched in awkwardly and left the weight ball dangle from the ground a few feet. Comfortable yet uncomfortable and she could already feel the faint sting of rope burn from the moments before. Gritting her teeth she felt the mulish side of her become more prominent, she would get at least this part down or she would not leave this spot. Pasting a smile on she for the third time began her circle, being careful to keep it on the side of her body and not arch up over her head, control came from smaller circles, while distance came from larger ones swinging over the head or around the neck and feet. But she could keep her circle, as the momentum swung the ball at a slightly quicker pace it jerked the extra from her right hand and slammed into the ground, making a small dent in the dirt. She needed to focus! Closing her eyes briefly she ignored all thought and simply reformed her stance, feet set apart just enough for firm balance, excess rope head firmly in right hand and leading to the left where the ball once more dangled towards the ground. Again. She started slower this time and though the circle were awkward she was able to spilt her attention between making sure her grip was firm and that the circle stayed moving without lengthening. She felt as if she was finally getting it and yet it was not meant to be for her circle was not tight enough and began to wrap around her left arm quickly, coiling up it like a snake. The small weighted ball slapping her bicep as if scolding her before falling off lazily. A strange anger bubbled up in her stomach, why was this so hard?! It had seemed simple in the book! Narrowing her eyes she glared at the weapon in her hands before taking stance once again. Carefully she tightened her right hand, reflexing it slightly before beginning her left wrist slow revolution, this time she focused on the weight of the ball, feeling how fast it needed to go without making her whole arm wobble in an effort to keep it straight, she could start out slow but not as slow as she had been previously doing. It worked! The heavy little ball continued turning, a steady but slow rotation…but now what was she to do with it?

[Ndale Soromund]

She knew she couldn't stop, that was the problem she had learned while reading of this weapon, it was based on constant movement but how did one move without stopping the ball? She had not actually read that far, she had not expected to ‘get the ball rolling’, so to speak. But even in her confusion there was self-satisfied smile on her face and the ball continued to turn in tight quick circles, carefully, as if without actual though she relaxed her right hand slightly. The incessant tugging of the rope pulling out a bit more, lengthening the spin but not stopping or hindering it but she did not release anymore, afraid it would bump the ground and throw her off balance again. Tentatively she took a step forward, trying to remind herself that it shouldn’t require much movement to wield a long distance weapon, just enough to keep the weight going in the direction she choose. It was much easier than she thought, though the constant whoosh of the rope make her flinch slightly, a constant fear of getting smacked but such a thing was fresh in her mind. She did not want any more repeats. Fear hinders you. The worst you can do, you have done. Ah! Now she remembered! She had felt this pain before, the memory sharpening at the edges, the steel ball continuously slapping her silly and even knocking her unconscious. Swung hard enough it could killed you or at the very least break something but her ball was not heavy enough for that. Not for the killing at least, breaking bones? Maybe. Severe bruising? Obviously. She would fear nothing. Or at least that is what she tried to do but it is always hard to have confidence in abilities you do not yet possess and hard to put your trust in an inanimate object. So though she repeated the mantra her grin was a bit shaky, happy but shaky and her mantra did nothing to quell the way her eyes refused to leave the ball. Still she found it a bit easier to move forward and back, the movement of the ball requiring less effort to spin and more of a constant subtle muscle shift and she took four steps back and four forward, getting used to the short steps before stopping and repeating, it was actually very simply. Like spinning a necklace on your finger but with more control. Smiling she decided it was time for the next step. Her spinning seemed to be down pat for the time being, now she would turn in a circle. Even in her first step of making the circle she could feel the difference, the rope began to sway, the circle slanting and passing by her head dangerously. It was much too close, she could feel the light hairs it brushed like a ripple of her feathers. She halted her movement and slowly worked the spin back under her control. She wasn’t ready for the circle, she was nervous to try it again. Too nervous. Instead she focused on her forward and backwards steps. This time increasing the pace to s brisk walk back and forth, the circle lessening at the speed a little but she compensated by spinning the ball faster, but not too hard or she would lose control. Which is precisely what she did two chimes later, the rope surging forward, thankfully it did not drag her this time and she tug the rope back, wincing as it slammed into her toe. Getting the circle started this time though was a tad easier, getting it straightened in the slight wind the passed by was another matter altogether. Her body shifted away slightly and she flinched as she spun, not stopping but waiting for the pain that would inevitably come. The pain passed her by and the breeze died down, allowing her to resume her training, which she started right away with the quick steps forward and back, she even lightly hopped once but her body denied the movement. Making the spin stutter and nearly halt, she could not go very fast yet, if she did it seemed her arm attempted to make the rope spin in the direction of the ball, it required too much attention divided. Instead she slowed her pace to a brisk walk once more: Four back. Four forward. Keep the circle tight and flowing. She found though, that while spinning the rope backwards was easier she had to practice spinning it in both directions. So for ten chimes she would stand and spin backwards and for the next ten forwards, after which she would repeat that but with her movement, slowly and stead then brisk and quick. Taking a slow breath she did this continuously, loosing track of the bells and the dimming light in the sky. By the time she stopped she found herself breathing awkwardly and that her hands felt raw and worn and sure enough, they were. Her palms were completely red and slightly painful to the touch, a few hair lines cuts littered them as well and on her arm she could feel the makings of a bruise from her earlier run in with the weighted end of the ball. Her toe throbbed as well. But all of these inventoried and catalogued cuts only make a wide grin spread across Ndale’s face. This was enjoyable! She suddenly understood why humans loved their hobbies so much. The revelation made the grin seemed to spilt her face, not only had she began her training successfully but she had even slowed the mystery of humans numerous hobbies. It had been a day well spent. OOCI realize she may be learning to fast so I want to mention that the majority of this was written by my own trial and errors with a jump rope and even with the plastic I have some nice bruises and cuts T_T But it was worth it, so Ndale will learn as I learn and it actually is pretty hard to keep a circle going, I always assumed it was easy. It’s not. But once you get the hang of it the Meteor Hammer motions are surprisingly easy to learn. So if it seems rushed, it’s actually how fast you can pick up the techniques, it’s really cool!^_^ Edit: I forgot to add that her wrist would hurt something fierce too.

[Paragon]

Ndale : Ndale Skill XP Reward Meteor Hammer +3 Body Building +2 Meditation +1 Lore: Humans and Animals Aren't So Different, It's All in the Wrist, A Meteor Hammer Pattern Other: Ndale has some very sore wrists for 3 days after. Great little solo. You got the meditation XP for creating a sort of rhythm and mind set for swinging the weapon - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.