Flashback [Kendoka Sasaran]A Lesson Earned[Felavik]

[Rykanis Dakshata]

12 Spring 496 Rykanis let out a grunt of pain, as he was hit in the calf by a sword. He lashed out in response with one of his lakan, and caught the mans blade before he could swing it in once more. Then before his foe could move out of range, he swung in his left lakan, and bashed him upside the head. His foe let out a grunt of pain, that matched his own from prior moments almost perfectly. Of course, they were not using real weapons. If they had been, they likely would either be dead or lying bleeding in a heap on the ground. They were simply using wooden weapons, while they practiced at the Sasaran. Neither were skilled enough, or fool enough, to use real metal ones, let alone sharp blades that could kill. They got enough injuries using the fake wooden ones. Rykanis nodded his head at his foe. "A good match, I look forward to our next crossing of blades. You won't catch me off guard again like you did this time." The other Akalak simply smiled, and headed off. He had to get to work, so had told Rykanis he could onyl spar for a short while. Which left Rykanis a bit sweaty, but not yet ready to be done. He had not gotten enough of a workout, to suit his tastes. So he was left looking for a new person to spar with, to challenge, with a wooden lakan in each hand.

[Felavik Dysodamus]

Felavik had been watching the fight. He was on a break from training with his cousins. He had left their private room in search of some water to rehydrate his sweaty, overheating body when the fight had drawn his eye. It was not so much the fight as the man who wielded two of the wooden Lakan. He knew for a fact that he would not be able to do anything with two weapons until he had more skill with the Lakan but to watch the man using both of them was a rare experience. His original reason for leaving his cousins abandoned he sat down cross legged and watched the two men fight the wooden Lakan he had been using to fight his cousins earlier resting across his knees. When they stopped fighting Felavik got to his feet. He was under the assumption they were both leaving. However when he saw that only one of them was leaving he stayed just in case he could get to see another fight. After some moments had passed Felavik found that he actually wanted to spar with the man himself. As Grandfather always said learn in the most practical sense. He found himself moving toward the man. Remembering his manners he connected the hand that wasn't holding the wooden weapon into a fist and put his two fists together (Lakan tip down) dipping his head respectfully and also poking himself on the head with the butt of the Lakan. Mustering his courage he then said "I will fight you if you would be agreeable." with as much confidence and courage as he could muster. OOC : Sorry I didn't get anymore down. Never good at first posts. It also looked way bigger on Word.

[Rykanis Dakshata]

As Rykanis finished his spar, he did not have to wait long before someone else was approaching. He heard coming from just out of eyesight the tap of a foot on the ground, telling him someone was coming. By instinct, he tensed and turned to face the new entrant, bringing both of his lakan to bear in front of him, in case he attacked straight away as was common in the Sasaran. But, that was not what happened. Instead the young Akalak, as he was rather young, respectfully asked Rykanis for a match. Clearly by his voice, it had taken a great deal of courage for him to ask Rykanis this, and he was also clearly a bit intimidated by the older Akalak. Rykanis took a few moments to inspect the youth. He was smaller than him, though he likely had just not grown fully, and would later in life be bigger... He was also blue, a common color for an Akalak. He himself was a dark purplish hue, which was not as common as blue. But in hindsight, it seemed to reflect him better, and his following of Akajia. "Sure, I would not mind having you as a sparring partner." That said, Rykanis would have a small smile slip over his face, as he knew he would soon be enjoying himself in the excitement of the battle to come. Not pulling any punches, Rykanis moved forward and attacked the youth without any notice, testing him to see how he did in response to the sudden attack. He took a stride and pushed off with his right leg, and then swung his right lakan at the boys shoulder and collar area trying to hit him. And as soon as that attack was through, he would attempt a kick aimed right at his right leg, with Rykanis left foot, trying to sweep his foot out from under him with the kick, and possibly take him down.

[Felavik Dysodamus]

Felavik never took note of the colour of his fellow Akalaks. It just didn't seem to matter. They were all the same in blood and flesh. Just different packaging. He did however take note of the larger size of his opponent. He wondered, or rather schemed, if he could use his larger frame against him. Of course he had been watching him spar and knew that he was pretty agile. He didn't pull punches either as he leapt into the attack swing one of his lakans at Felavik's shoulder. The boy twisted around bring up his own lakan to block it which left him the perfect target for the leg sweep. Felavik very soon found himself sitting on the floor trying to blink the confusion out of his eyes. “Huh?” Felavik jumped to his feet as his brain made that final connection between blocking his opponent's lakan, feeling a weight against his leg and meeting the ground. He leapt forward at his opponent his lakan moving in front of him to attempt to swat away the nearest of his opponent Lakan's which he would then attempt follow up with a, perhaps foolish, punch to the stomach. OOCDid I explain that right?

[Rykanis Dakshata]

One thing could certainly be said about Rykanis, when he sparred, he went all out. He did not halfway do it. He moved with a purpose, and made each blow count, going almost as hard as if it was a real fight in which his life was at stake. He did not soften his blows, or take it easy on his foes. He certainly did not do anything but his best. But when in a spar and you knock down your opponent, it was only kind to give them a moment to recover and return to their feet, so that the fight could continue full force. He could have hit him while he was down, and before he could recover, but he did not. As expected, he blocked the first blow of his lakan, with his own. But he was not expecting the second blow, of the leg sweep, a simple enough unarmed maneuver. So when it came in, he was knocked flat on his rear. Rykanis smile never even broke, through the quick skirmish. He was having far to much fun. As the other Akalak got back to his feet, it seemed it was his turn to go on the offensive, and for Rykanis to defend. He blocked the first strike of the lakan, catching his lakan with his own, just as the youth had done to his initial strike a moment before. And logic said that the boy was going to follow up with another strike, after all he had just done the same. So when the punch aimed at his gut came in, it was expected. Rykanis already had his arm in position. He moved slightly to the right, and then swung in with his second lakan, on his left, to meet the incoming fist of his foe, aiming for the knuckles, while still holding his right lakan locked with the lakan of his foe. It would not do to much damage, but if it hit it would sting pretty well. Wood smacked on flesh tended to do that.

[Felavik Dysodamus]

Felavik saw the wooden weapon all too late. He yelped in pain the sting of wood against knuckle sending a hot, thrumming pain straight to his brain. At the very least he had the good sense to leap backward out of his opponents critical attack range. He loosened out his sore hand a bit raising his lakan in the air with his other as he turned his body to face his opponent in a fencing type stance. He did not leap to the attack however. No, attack wouldn't work well for this stance when it came to his opponent and his two weapons but defense, perhaps. It seemed to Felavik's inexperienced mind that the man's dual blades would count for little if he attacked. So Felavik began to circle his opponent. He was circling just as quickly as he could whilst still holding his stance. He hoped to keep the man on his toes and maybe strike if he actually ever found a weak point...

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Unfortunately for his foe, the young Akalaks fist met directly with his wooden lakan. Rykanis would imagine it did not feel to good. So when he yelped in pain from the sudden contact, and jumped back instinctively to get away from the source of pain, Rykanis gave him a few moments to collect himself, instead of attacking right away. If it was a real fight, he would have just taken off his opponents hand or at least fingers... But of course, in a real fight, neither one of them would be so bold with their attacks, both would be more cautious with their own lives on the line. Thank Akajia for the fact that they did not need to use real weapons, and that practice ones were given. His foe held his one lakan out, pointing at him. Rykanis simply stood there, knees slightly bent, flexible, ready to move if needed, but not expending a great deal of energy on wasteful movements. He thought of himself as a bowstring pulled back, ready to be released. He still had his right lakan pointing up, and his left lakan pointing down, one in a offensive position upward with more reach, the other in a defensive position down better readied for blocking and defense. As the youth began to circle him, Rykanis continued to smile, slowly turning along with his foe, keeping in the same spot, and keeping them face to face. He was not fool enough to let him get in his side or back in such a fashion. But combining the factors that the other Akalak was smaller and had shorter legs, with the fact that his circuit around the older Akalak was of a much wider circumference than the tiny circle Rykanis was turning on the spot, his foe would tire himself out with this pointless maneuvering far faster than Rykanis would. He would wait a few moments, perhaps to allow him to grow complacent as Rykanis did nothing in response to his movement but continuing to turn to face him, when he would suddenly attack. His right lakan would swing in high aimed at the boys head, and then he would take a half step forward with his left leg, as if he was going to repeat the kick from earlier. But instead, he would swipe in low a moment later with his left lakan, after the right lakan was done, and a moment after the half step had just finished, aiming at his hip with his left lakan swipe.

[Felavik Dysodamus]

Calm as the sea, swift and true as the river, Felavik recited over and over again as he circled his opponent. After some moments he slowed but did not stop. He was not growing complacent. No his full attention was right here, right now. Calm as the sea, swift and true as the river... When his opponent attacked something suddenly occurred to him. The man before him was not only bigger, faster and stronger but his two lakan meant that he always had the advantage. There was only one thing he could do. It was time to use his head. As the man came at him with a high right lakan Felavik dodged under and leaped forward turning his downward ducking momentum into forward launching momentun his head aligned and aimed to crash into his opponent's stomach. Grandfather had told him once that the best offense against the skilled was a complete and utter lack of it...

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Of course, the waiting game had been a gamble, one in which he could not lose, only gain. It turned out his foe did not grow complacent, which perhaps was due to the short wait. But any warrior could not hold attention forever. If he had waited a few chimes, or a bell, as he might have in a real fight, likely then it would have set in. But in a spar, such waiting was pointless. It was meant to be fast and brutal, and to the point, so as to work on your skills. So waiting for bells to pass before attacking while being a better tactic, was not reasonable for the situation. So while it did not hurt him to have waited a bit, it also did not help him. He was no worse off than if he had attacked right away. He ducked the first strike from his right lakan, and then suddenly charged in at him like a bull head first. Rykanis had little time to react, and attempted to smash Felavik in the back of his head with his right lakan, dropping it straight down. But whether his strike at his head hit or not, he would still crash his head into Rykanis gut, knocking the air from his lungs and him off of his feet and onto his rear. From his spot on the ground Rykanis would lash out with his feet several times, both to ward him off and to possibly catch him with a kick if he tried to get to close. It also gave him a few moments to gasp in some air. Once he had a decent lungful, Rykanis would arch his back, and then drop it back down, while leaning towards one shoulder, and pulling his legs up to his chest. He would do a back roll off of his right shoulder, landing on his feet, and pop back into a standing position, while still gasping for air, which was slowly returning to him. The simple acrobatic maneuver would wind him a bit more, but was useful for quickly getting to his feet.

[Felavik Dysodamus]

There was a sudden, and frankly unexpected, sharp pain on his head. Nothing, not his surprise or the dangerous way his eyes began to swing could stop his motion now however and soon enough they had collided and the satisfactory effect of knocking his opponent to the ground had occurred. Felavik wasn't celebrating though. His eyes swam and he held his lakan loosely. He had to back away out of the range of Rykanis kicking feet. He knew he was no good right now. The cost of weakening his opponent had been the weakening off himself creating something a temporary standstill in the fight as Rykanis got back up and Felavik tried to blink away a possible concussion. As sense and sensibility came back to Felavik he realised he'd essentially accomplished nothing. They were both on their feet now in literal and metaphorical meaning. His opponent was still all of those things he had been before and Felavik was no better and perhaps slightly worse than before. Felavik stretched out his right arm and released the lakan from his hand letting it clatter to the floor. Felavik bowed and widened his stance before stepping forward into a Front-Stance: one leg out bent in front of him and one leg out behind him his hands curled into fists his right arm an L coiled ready to attack. And his right arm out vertically ready to block. It was an unspoken challenge but a challenge all the same.