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-- Fall 71st, 513 AV --
After the recent events of the quake, Jenni's Uncle had made a decision... she needed a little more training. The anarchy that had ensued had been dangerous… and despite her skills in morphing, the younger Twilight would have been helpless. So, Altelo had decided that he would teach his niece how to defend herself using morphing… just to give her some kind of edge in a fight. The Seeker had at first been against the idea, but after Zintila’s moving speech… she decided it was her job to the city to do something other than stare at books all day. That was what had landed her in the park-like area next to the Twilight tower right after Dawn rest… Her Uncle had found a nice, thick tree which he’d decided would make an excellent practice post. It was thick and tall, it’s rough bark creating an aesthetically pleasing texture… but considering she was probably expected to punch this thing, she worried about how painful it was, rather than how pretty.
“So… I want you to start by growing claws on your knuckles… do you know how to do that? ” Altelo started, holding up his own hand to show large sets of cat-like claws. They were quite impressive, to be honest. Luckily, Jenni had figured those out earlier in the season, and focused on her fists for a moment. She pulled at the Djed there, stretching it into the familiar claw shape she’d copied from Crook. They were much smaller than her Uncle’s and looked a little… wimpy next to those massive things. “Try and make them bigger” was the instruction, and once again she plied the Djed. She lengthened and thickened them, in general increasing the size until they reflected the other Twilight’s. “Good” was the quiet compliment, before their attention was focused on the large tree.
“Now… if you want to simply hit it, curl your fingers in a fist, so that the claws protrude. To use them best, you want to scratch like a cat… so swing at the tree from an angle. Start light at first, so you get the distance right.” He repeated the motion once, though stayed an inch away from the actual bark. His movements were slow and precise, and the sharp claws looked like they could rip through flesh easily… which slightly put her off the training. She gave her Uncle’s hands a skeptical look, but copied the motion, slowly moving her hand in a diagonal strike a little away from the wood. “Good. Now try actually scratching.”
The younger Twilight nodded at the instruction, and once again repeated the action, letting her claws scratch against the bark. Though the morph was small, it was still straining to hold it this long… though she knew she had a bit to go before reaching her limit. Sadly, the tree was barely dented. Her claws weren’t sharp enough. Scowling to herself, she attempted to sharpen them, pulling the ends into pointier… points. Once again she tried the move, this time slowly scratching with first her right than her left hand. It was strangely satisfying to see light but obvious scratches appear in the dark bark. Letting herself grin wryly, Jenni tried again, this time forcing her claws deeper. It was harder this time to drag them through the wood, and when it became hard to pull them out, Altelo commented “To go deep, you need to go faster, with more force.” This caused the younger woman to balk slightly, and glance at the tree doubtfully. Faster? How would she know she would hit the tree? Wouldn’t that… hurt? Still, she didn’t complain about the instructions, and tried again.
Common - Nari/Crook - NPC - Writing - Reading
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