[Sanctuary] Body and Souls(Raiha)

[Hatot]

Radris’ hands fell along his waist, looking down at Kanikra as she posed whether or not they would be continuing. “Nah, get some rest. Read up.” Radris said as he slowly tossed the stick away and began heading towards town. “Practice, study and heal. I’m through kicking your ass for today. We can start fresh tomorrow.”

Radris then slowly turned, looking back at Kanikra. “Another little tidbit,” Radris said as he dragged the back of his hand along his chin, “when I’m fighting or Hatot is, we both see what’s going on during that fight, obviously. Thing is though, during the heat of battle, the one in control is more focused on not getting hit, or hitting. Even as good as one is, there’s always the chance of some opening being missed. That’s where your other half comes in. They can be more focused, point things out to you with the speed of thought. All it takes is a little cooperation on both your parts. Which is why I say Hatot and I can accomplish so much more together, than separately.”

“Well, time to hit the tavern, see who wants to throw down in the arena after they’ve had some liquid courage.” Radris said as he began walking once again. “Improve quick enough and we’ll do a tag team sometime.”

[Raiha]

The Akontak grinned a bit when he told her he was through with wiping her face up and down the courtyard for the day, even if the grin didn’t quite reach her eyes, or even the other corner of her mouth. That worked for her. Chores had to be done, or, at least, Raiha had chores to do. She knew her twin wanted to deal with that big old head of bear’s garlic and start preparing it with all of the herbal goodness one could get out of it. But she stayed on the ground for a little while longer, looking up at him, the grin fading a bit as she watched him, her head tilting slightly as her eyes narrowed just a bit.

United we stand, divided we fall.

“I see,” Kanikra said after a moment. Maybe she did… hard to tell with girl brats that thought themselves to be the silent but deadly types. Maybe she didn’t, because this one was stubborn enough to have held tenaciously onto the belief that she was better off being the only one in charge of their body. But he did make some very good points, and she knew it. “Something to think about…” she was quiet as she pushed herself up off of the ground, dusting her pants off and looking detachedly at the purple lines on her skin and clearly unconcerned about them. He heard a chuckle behind him when he suggested a tag team, and she shook her head. “At least they’d never see it coming… but there’s something to be said for that. Thank you for the lesson.”

She scooped up the heavy bowl of sand and carried it up to her mews to put it away for now. She would practice again later and tomorrow morning, and make her twin finish off the one hundred strikes once she was done with the garlic. In the mews, Kanikra pushed Raiha back out. She’d done well enough to earn some time to spend unmolested at her plants. She didn’t dally; she went right to work dissecting it - some of it was hung up, some of it was set aside for mashing, some of it was set aside to go to the kitchen, and some of it she set aside as a bit of a treat for Asim – that was how the herb got part of its name – brown bears loved the roots, and would dig them up. He might like them. Who knew? After that, she had more work that wanted her attention before the evening meal, and it was after that that she finally got to settle down with the booklet that Hatot had given her. With Uzima perched nearby, Raiha settled down to read and make notes as she read on her pages. Some of it was just logical – it made sense from what she knew to aim for. But some of it was a great deal of new information that she had never really played with, and this was as good a way to start.

Upper Body Pressure Points

1. Top of the head: Weak spot of skull is right between the eyes.
2. Temple: Bones are weak there; arterial and nerve location.
3. Eyes: Extremely sensitive spot.
4. Nose: Bones thin; breaking causes extreme pain and eye watering.
5. Under the nose: big nerve cluster.
6. Jaw: Break, dislocate.
7. Chin: The jawbone transmits the force of a blow to the back of brain where heart and breathing mechanisms are controlled.
8. Back of ears: Jarring effect on brain.
9. Base of skull: Jarring effect on brain.
10. Throat: Crushing windpipe, pain, gagging, vomiting.
11. Side of neck: Arterial locations. One of the best targets.

Mid-Body Pressure Points

Look for a bone or organ. The nerves are behind the bone, pressuring organs for internal discomfort and hemorrhage, and cavities between muscular groups.

1. Sternum (breastbone).
2. Bone connecting to sternum (think: keel bone).
3. Floating ribs.
4. Collarbone.
5. Kidneys.
6. Liver.
7. Groin.
8. Breadbasket (just above the groin).
9. Spine.
10. Side of ribs.
11. Heart.
12. Under arms (nerve bundles).
13. Bladder.
14. Inside/outside of elbow.
15. Inner/outer wrist.

Lower Body Pressure Points

1. Inner thigh.
2. Back of knee.
3. Back of calf.
4. Instep
5. Inside of ankle.
6. Back of ankle.

She was up bright and early the next morning, and started on her strikes with the sand before the sun had even thought about coming up. She stood over the desk, straightening her hand the way that Hatot had showed her, locking the joints and beginning to sink her hand into the bowl. Don’t aim for the bottom, he had said, and Raiha heeded the advice – if she just went for the bottom, it would be more trouble than it was worth. She’d wear herself out with unnecessary effort. She drew back, keeping her breathing routine and keeping herself from instinctively holding her breath. After ten jabs into the sand, she switched arms. Her muscles weren’t bothering her yet, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t start. Muscle ache happened before you felt it. It was just the way it went. After those ten strikes with the left arm, it was time for the next ten strokes with right. She did sixty apiece, where he had stopped her last time. She’d do the last forty later on. She needed to reserve something for training.

At dawn, she emerged from the mews, rolling her shoulders, still shaking bits of sand out from under her nails as she looked about for Hatot. He had said one hundred strikes, and the Akontak had clearly done some of it. Her arms were dangling a little loosely, but she would just have to get over it as she stretched, coming down the steps, the big white and grey dog accompanying her as he had yesterday. Her hair was tied at the back and bunned at the base of her neck today, and she was still shaking her hands from time to time to get the sand out from under her short nails. Being up at this time of day wasn’t a challenge for her, but without a doubt, the coming workout would be.

[Hatot]

Hatot’s feet casually stepped along the grounds, stepping up from Raiha’s left. Pupils surrounded by the golden hues of his iris’ gazed over her form, looking over the condition her body was in and noting the training she had already done. He carried in his hands two small pack, the fabric he gripped looking someone strained. “Good morning,” Hatot said in that same calmed tone in his voice, “Radris’ training yesterday didn’t seem to leave you too worse for wear it would appear.”

Hatot then held up the smaller of the two backpacks, holding it in the air in front of Raiha. After a couple of seconds, he released the back as it dropped down to the ground, causing a dull thud which left a slight indentation in the ground. “Yesterday, you are your sister had received a taste of things to come. Not only in how to move, but the pains that would come with an actual combat. Radris was light in his training, not because you are female, but because your body is simply not used to it.” Hatot explained as he began slipping on the other backpack. “Aside from training your skills, we will train your body as well. The sand bowl helps you to develop your strength for the strikes and we will gradually move up from sand to a denser material. Aside from that, you do chores around Sanctuary which help you to develop strength as well. Speed will come with the training in your techniques. You are lacking in one thing, however. Stamina.”

Hatot then motioned for Raiha to put the backpack on. When she picked the backpack up, the rattling of rocks could be heard from within and Raiha would soon discover she was carrying an extra fifty pounds of weight over her shoulders. “In your training yesterday, while you may have sparred for a time with Radris, you were becoming fatigued, and your strikes were losing their speed and strength. You lack endurance.” Hatot explained. “Kavala has already began such, jogging every morning down along the beach as well as swimming in the ocean every chance she gets. You should do the same training at the least if what I’m about to put you through is not entirely to your liking.”

“Your endurance is important. When facing an opponent physically, and you find that they are your equal in terms of strength, speed and skill, then whoever can last longer will finally be the victor.” Hatot then explained, his hands resting along his waist. “When you are ready, we will begin with a mile long run.”

[Raiha]

“Good morning,” Raiha returned the greeting, stretching, and smiled slightly up at him, though she noticed the strain on his arms and face and glanced at the bags. One of those was… oh, yes. One of those was definitely for them. She wasn’t about to say that by the time dinner was done and cleaned up after, it was all she could do to go down to the shore and float in the water to take care of her muscles. You couldn’t sink in salt water. So just sitting there and floating in the shallows and letting everything else relax had been a very, very nice thing. For all that Radris had taken it easy on her, he had still kicked her ass, and it certainly hadn’t crossed her mind to complain about it.

The Akontak pulled her toes out of the way when the bag dropped, and Diallo sniffed it as she eyed it for a moment. But she nodded, listening. He made sense. She did her share of work around Sanctuary, and it was certainly more than she had done on Konti Isle. Konti Isle had been hunting, camping, and very literally being on the outskirts looking in. But now, she was doing physical work daily. One built themselves up to greater things – if you broke it on the first day, that certainly didn’t help the structure and soundness of the greater whole. Her ears drew back slightly his assessment of her stamina, but compared to what he was used to, she could well imagine that in her eyes, she was definitely without.

She reached for it as he began to put his own on, the muscles in her arms straining as she lifted the bag, and clenching her jaw only slightly before working it onto her shoulders. Once on her back, it wasn’t such a big deal. It would be, though, when she got running, she had no doubt about that. Just deal with it, Kanikra told her dryly. Don’t make a sound. Keep your mouth shut and deal with it. She adjusted the straps on the backpack, making them a little shorter so that when she started running, the bag didn’t flop all over her back. No way to secure it around her middle, either, so she was just going to go with it.

“I went swimming last night,” she admitted. Jogging was not really her thing. She enjoyed long walks. She liked the water, but if jogging was what it took, and jogging with Goddess knew how many pounds on her back was what it took, then that was simply what they were going to have to do. She picked up the waterskin she’d brought with her, all set to bring it for a drink, even if it meant carrying the extra weight. “I’m ready.” She glanced up at him, tucking the waterskin under her arm and set off at a trot once he got moving. She didn’t have much to say, it seemed, but the Akontak rarely did. She spoke up, though, once they were outside of Sanctuary. “Did you and Radris fight a lot when you were growing up? Did your teachers use these methods when they were teaching you? Or are they more for those who were raised outside of here?”

[Hatot]

Hatot slowly hefted his own pack up, the muscle in his arm contracting once again as he began to sling it over his shoulders. Raiha wouldn’t be able to determine how much, but she knew he carried more weight in his own pack, lending credence to the fact that, despite where he was at, physically, he still trained himself. When Hatot was finally ready, he began, setting the pace at a casual jog as he first tested Raiha’s own limits as far as speed with the extra weight would be, eventually finding that happy medium to where she would be pushed, but wouldn’t be burned out in the first half bell.

His ears twitched slightly as Raiha posed her questions, and a slow shake of his head was given in response. “I imagine every Akalak and Akontak spend their beginning years at odds with each other. Each one fighting in their own way to establish dominance and control.” Hatot explained, his arms moving back and forth, opposite with his legs. “It is a simple part of growing for those such as you and I. We either find our balance with our twin soul, or one of us simple relinquishes control. We never, after that, truly become the whole that we could be.”

Hatot then let a moment of silence pass the two of them by as they began circling around the outer walls of Riverfall city. It wouldn’t be a full circle, due to the city’s cliff side location, but going around from one end, and then back, would be a decent distance to deal with. “As for my teachers,” Hatot then continued, gazing over at the Bluevein River, “well my Grandfather taught me the culture, my master at the Sasoran taught me skill. Everything physical, however, I established myself. I simply adopted them because they are what I found worked best for me. This training will not only give you endurance, but will also strengthen your legs and back for solidly planting your center of gravity. If you are flexible enough, you’ll eventually be able to bend backwards to avoid attacks to the point that your upper body will be horizontal , and then you will be able to raise yourself back upright just as quickly.”

It may have taken Raiha a short time to notice, but Hatot had been slowly, but gradually increasing their pace, going just a tiny bit faster almost every four hundred yards. Whether he was trying to simply make her tired, or push her to limits she may not have been aware of before then, she would simply have to decide for herself. “Breath through your nose, always. Especially when running.” Hatot then suggested, rounding the corner as Raiha could see the cliff side come into view. “It will always give you the most out of each breath you take if it’s taken in and out through the nose.”

[Raiha]

She didn't seem to mind the jog too far, but she certainly doubted just how long she was going to be able to keep up with him. She was glad that she had adjusted the straps, though, because at that pace, the bag stayed mostly in place as opposed to throwing her center everywhere. That would be the last thing she needed, because if she went around a corner too fast and the weight in the bag shifted accordingly, she would probably be flat on her ass, and Kanikra would never shut up about it. It would be just one more thing in the heaping pile of rocks that her twin slung at her in a way of ammunition. She was trying. She had agreed to some of this. But it seemed, sometimes, a very one-way relationship, because while Raiha agreed to work on what Kanikra called her weaker tendencies, Kanikra gave up none of her closely-held, emotionless views in pursuit of perfection. Their discussion underwater with Kavala hadn't changed much for Kani - just strengthened the desire to learn to be better, because she would never forget being punched in the gills. Ever.

She would get hers, some day. Kanikra had gotten this far by being patient. Only the young, callow, and ignorant liked rashness. Advantage was a far better soldier. So she would wait. Bide her time, and wait. Train. Improve. And try again.

But both sisters listened as Hatot spoke, each taking his words in a different way. Radris had spoke of balance the other day, and Hatot was mentioning it again. It was certainly something to pay attention to, but when one was so far unbalanced, the Akontak didn't have any idea just how to work on regaining that balance again when her sister-soul figured to hoard most of it. And she wasn't convinced much of anything or anyone could convince Kanikra to give up on the power she held over her twin. That meant that the other option in trying to gain some ground was to fight back. Raiha didn't enjoy fighting, but if her very existence and sanity was at stake, as Kanikra had made it clear a few days ago... Endless conversations between the two of them throughout the night were a good a way as any to start. Maybe she could talk her tired. Maybe she could find more strength in this and push back. Maybe, just maybe, Kanikra would respect her and let her be.

But of all of this, she wasn't sure how much of it she could tell the Akalak who had been nice enough to take her under his wing. Kavala had told her not to talk about it to anyone. It was something Kanikra agreed with, certainly, if for no other reason than Kanikra liked time to sit and stew and plan and angle. Neither of them knew much about Hatot and Radris, how much Kavala may or may not have confided in them, and until one of them said something about it, the idea of trying to explain just how unbalanced she was to someone she didn't know well didn't sit well with her. Maybe eventually. But they might have picked up on some of it, on her questions. But if she didn't say anything outright. Well, there was nothing entirely solid, was there?

"I can bend like that, actually. It's just something I've been able to do... but pulling myself up from that position is something else entirely. But I'd bet you could." She could walk from sunup to sundown without a problem, but jogging with a big sack of rocks on your back was something else entirely, especially with the angles and slopes. Even if she dropped down dead when they finally took a break. This was certainly an eye-opener about training and stamina. At least Kanikra wasn't saying something like I told you so - because she had thought that they were in reasonably good shape, too, all things considered. But their mistake, maybe, was thinking in terms of Mura as opposed to Riverfall. "My nose, got it," Raiha nodded, closing her mouth in order to keep herself breathing through her nose rather than going through her mouth. It made a difference, she soon found, even though she could certainly feel herself tiring, even as she took a couple sips of water as they kept on jogging. Couldn't get dehydrated, after all - it tightened the muscles and thickened the blood and made exercise and work much harsher.
"Breathing that way makes makes a pretty big difference... especially jogging with weights than just walk with a pack."

Don't stop, Kanikra warned her once they got to the first half-bell. Else so help me, I will throw us off the cliffs myself. Then we'll have to swim for the shore, and by the time we finally get there, the stopping might have been forgotten.

Would you get over yourself? This is as much a fault of yours as it is mine. So just... BITE ME. For the second time in five days, Raiha just wanted to throttle her sister-soul until she shut up, and the slight tension in her forehead and the way her ears were drawn back, almost like her dog's did yesterday, might have been familiar to the brothers.

[Raiha]

They continued their run, stretching into the late morning. By then, Raiha was almost regretting the decision to ask Hatot and Radris to teach her. Her endurance tended to be from stretching over long periods of time of good work, riding, and walking... not running with a big bag of rocks on her back. By the time they finally stopped, Raiha put the backpack full of rocks down, and sat down beside it with her waterskin, and drank from it. She had done her best to stay hydrated during the run, but oh, Wysar...

That was tough.

But it’s good for you. Kanikra told her.

If you like it so much, you do it, Raiha told her, too tired to argue. Here, you take over and you try to move. See how much you like it. She knew she sounded like a little child, but..

You exaggerate, Kanikra was acerbic. But fine. Just to show you how much of a weakling you are... Raiha receded and Kanikra flowed, taking over as Raiha was glad for the rest. What have you done to my body?!

Our body, Raiha said almost smugly. You get to wear it for the day. I am taking a nap.

Fine... mewling brat. I’ll show you how it’s done, Kanikra scoffed at her, forcing herself to get up, only to have to grab the fence. ...In five chimes.


OOCDone, since Hatot is gone.

[Sojourn]

Raiha's Rewards Skill XP Award Hunting +1 Herbalism +1 Body Building +1 Endurance +2 Running +2 Evasion +3 Unarmed Combat +5 Lore Award Unarmed Combat Style: Vantath Ralo; Training for Instinct; Three Uses of Weapons; The Other Meaning of Close Combat; Evasion while Bound; Hatot/Radris: Two Halves Working Together, Sometimes; Anatomy: Pressure Points; Building Stamina; The Value of Endurance in Combat; Running with Rocks is Hard Work Items or Consequences: N/A Notes: I always enjoy a good combat thread, and I'll admit it's still a bit mind-boggling for me to follow two conversations in one head. Fun stuff, though!