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[Yuri Lehrer]

Yuri was glad that his rather desperate grab at Saraphina worked, but as he fell back she did something which he didn’t think would happen, she violently twisted her arm, making his own strain and rotate in a painful manner. But the pain didn’t matter to Yuri; he just wanted to bring Saraphina down with him, and as such he tighten his grip so it wouldn’t become dislodged, thinking to himself as he did so I don’t think so; you are coming down with me, but what will- During his thought a lance of pain pierced though his gut and his groin as he landed on his back on the ground, gasping from the unexpected pain Yuri’s grip on Saraphina’s forearm tightened even more than it had been up until this point, in his mind Yuri apologised to Saraphina but then quickly changed his thoughts about what he would do next, even though he was in a lot of pain.

Right... ugh... What do I do next? Saraphina is bearing her weight down on me, I probably can’t... push her off because of this... pain... so what do I do? Considering his options for a moment was difficult but something which Yuri deemed extremely necessary for any further action I could always try to... push her off but it won’t work, I’m... in too much pain... I... could surrender but I wouldn’t have learned enough, and I am sure I can fight on... even in my condition... Wait a second... I am holding her arm, aren’t I? Well it looks like I’m going to have to at least try to do this, but it will be a gamble, on the other hand Battles both large and small are won by people who take risks. Deciding on his course of action, Yuri took as deep a breath as he was able considering the pain lancing through his arm and torso, and prepared to try it.

Yuri rolled his body to the right, pulling Saraphina in the same direction, hoping that rolling his body at the same moment would provide leverage and successfully dislodge Saraphina, but if it failed Yuri would be in a highly disadvantageous position, if it worked however, he would be in a highly advantageous position. The pain from the previous attacks and holding Saraphina’s arm were beginning to show at this point, so the movements were slightly lacking in force, almost imperceptibly, but for Yuri this was a battle of attrition, he had to fight with his waning strength against a more highly skilled opponent who was probably used to drawn out conflict. To make matters worse for Yuri, his opponent was also a Kelvic, someone instinctively used to using unarmed combat; he had the feeling if he didn’t end this fight with his next few moments it would be over for him, by knock out, Yuri thought briefly to himself while he waited to see the effect of his attack Ok... What happens from this point on will be a ‘go with the flow’ type thing, I can’t use strategy as well in a fistfight as when in a group situation or swordfight.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

Saraphina Skyglow S araphina could honestly say she was truly enjoying the tussle with Yuri. The swordsman provided enough of a challenge for an inexperienced fighter to keep the Kelvic constantly thinking. The fact that he'd managed to maintain his grip despite what must have been quite a painful position was proof of that. Now in a somewhat compromising pose above Yuri with him stubbornly refusing to release her arm, Saraphina had to think quickly. With one knee balanced on his gut and the other having slid down to rest in the white sand, Saraphina knew exactly what would happen next. It was only natural in a fist fight that once brought to the ground, the best position to be in was on top of your opponent....most of the time. But just like everything, there was always a way to work a disadvantage into an advantage if you worked at it. A s Yuri's muscles in his abdomen and legs tightened, Saraphina did something unexpected. She completely relaxed her body and muscles, becoming totally lax and nothing but dead weight. As Yuri rolled over and attempted to pin the red head under him, Saraphina rolled her leg that had been jammed up against his gut. Rotating her ankle, she planted the ball of her foot dead center into Yuri's torso. As her shoulders hit the sand from the completed roll, she arched her lower spine and extended her leg out over her head HARD. The rolling momentum and likely surprise from managing to maneuver her into the position would probably throw Yuri's flow off. Despite the tight grip on her arm, the attempt to vault the man over her head and onto the sand would probably make him let go of her. If nothing else....the landing would defiantly leave an opening. Secret : OOC: We should probably wrap it up soon. Saraphina won't back down till you do Yuri, its not in her nature. Hope your enjoying the thread, I know I am.

[Yuri Lehrer]

When Saraphina’s weight started to shift Yuri thought that he might get out of this disadvantageous position without too much pain on his part, but he thought incorrectly, it was at that moment that Saraphina did something which Yuri hadn’t expected at all... she completely relaxed, which made rolling her over, easier, but it took a little more effort, considering that she was dead weight now. When he was part-way through completing the roll, Yuri felt Saraphina react, he knew he was powerless to stop it from happening and continued with his roll, when it was almost complete Yuri was prepared to try to hold Saraphina down, sighing to himself Yuri was glad he had at least managed to get this far, and wondered what Saraphina was up to.

He didn’t have to wait long to find out however, it was a couple of moments after Yuri’s thought had occurred when Saraphina made her move, rotating her leg from under him so that the ball of her foot was pressed into the centre of his torso, when the roll completed Saraphina used the momentum of the roll and position of her foot to launch Yuri off of herself and away Clever use of the roll... however I have a trick or two of my own when it comes to sailing through the air... and this actually hurts... This was Yuri’s only thought before he let go of Saraphina’s arm and left her boot to begin ‘flying’ through the air.

While he was falling, Yuri prepared himself for an action he had trained himself for countless times when he was doing his Kata and Acrobatics Training, relaxing the upper half of his body so the impact of the fall would be deadened a little and bending his legs in to increase the forward momentum which had been present from the moment of launch. When he felt his shoulders hit the ground, Yuri rolled himself into a upright position, standing and turning around so he was facing Saraphina, he adopted his ready position once more... but felt pain in every place he’d been hit, Yuri knew he wouldn’t last another round against Saraphina and decided to concede before he got knocked out.

Abandoning his ready stance, Yuri held up his hands in a placatory gesture and began speaking in a slightly pained, but friendly tone “I think I should give up now Saraphina, before you completely wipe the floor with me, nice use of momentum with the roll, very clever... I think I’ve learnt enough to start me on a path to learning Unarmed combat, perhaps we can spar again sometime?” With that Yuri turned to the person whom had likely been forgotten in the commotion, Halin’a and began talking to him “Good Luck if you’re going to go up against her, she’s really strong, I can lend you my armour if you think it’ll help and you have the courage to face her.”

OOCIt has been fun to write this bit of combat, if you want I can get Yuri to leave with my next post, or he can stay, depending on the flow of the posts, it's up to you.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

Saraphina Skyglow H er tactic to dislodge Yuri worked flawlessly….well almost. She was still on her back and a bit dizzy from the maneuver. But her opponent no long grappled her arm and she was free to roll back to her feet. Right after the world stopped turning. Rapid rolls and tumbles were common in fist fights. Saraphina knew that, but it was still difficult to adjust to sudden changes in one’s center of gravity. So despite the fact that she’d thrown Yuri off her, Saraphina was not as quick to roll back to her feet as one would expect. It still only took a few seconds, but if her opponent had been quicker, Yuri might have been able to use the few moments to his advantage. But the ginger Kelvic rolled back onto the balls of her feet, using her palms to push herself up into a crouch. She was very surprised when she saw Yuri already on his feet. From her prone position before she’d been unable to see the mercenary’s maneuver. So she was just as glad that the fair haired man relaxed and held up his hands in a motion of surrender. Smiling at her companion, Saraphina also stood up. The Kelvic winced as her muscle protested the movement, the sparring match had taken its toll on her body as well. She’d be feeling the fight for a few days for sure. R ubbing at her upper arm that Yuri had grabbed and knowing a bruise would form in the next few bells, she walked to the swordsman and extended out her hand for a congratulation shake, “You’re a far better fighter than you give yourself credit for Yuri. You kept me thinking and reacting the whole time we sparred. Given enough time, I think you might have worn me down. Just now when I got up, you were already on your feet and I was still dizzy from the rapid roll. You could have taken advantage of that if you’d moved quickly. Just something to keep in mind if you ever get into a brawl and don’t have your broadsword handy. But thank you very much for the match, it was a lot of fun.” Gripping the young man’s hand firmly, she smiled at Yuri. Her face was alit with a healthy glow from the match, her golden eyes sparkled brightly and her hair was tossed messily. Though she didn’t intend it, Saraphina looked like a women who’d just been thoroughly satisfied by a skilled lover. She was oblivious to her own appearance, simple happy to be feeling the familiar hum of her muscle and the dull ache of a good fight. But Yuri, as a young single man, might have seen more to her tussled look. Halin'a likely did, given his profession. T urning back to Halin’a once she’d released Yuri’s hand, she smiled at the Ethaefal brightly. Rotating her neck around, she groaned in satisfaction when her vertebrae popped loudly and sent a wave of relif down her spine. The beach was still quiet and still, only the three individuals remained. Saraphina briefly considered offering to spar with the dark haired man, but decided against it. Her body was already sore, she didn’t want to wake up tomorrow unable to walk. That would be embarrassing to explain to Enthere. “I think I might need to withdraw my offer of a match from you Halin’a. Yuri worked me over more than I expected. But if you want, we can arrange to meet back here on another day and have a match.” Saraphina looked out across the waters of Mathew’s Bay, wondering briefly how she’d leave Zeltiva if she ever wanted to. Traveling by boat would be the fastest, but she still shuddered a bit at the thought of being locked up on a floating log. Looking back at the two men, she stretched up her arms and winced a bit, “I think I will take my leave. Thanks again for the match Yuri and it was very nice meeting you Halin’a. Take care boys, I hope to see both of you again.” Waving at the two men, she headed back up the beach and into the city. Passing by Yuri’s pale horse, Saraphina made sure to give the beast a wide breath. Thus far her own horse Abaccus was the only one she’d found that tolerated her. And as Yuri was a friend, the last thing she wanted was to spook his horse and have to help him catch it again. The image of the two of them running up and down the beach trying to corner a running quadruped was amusing and she chuckled to herself and walked towards the gate of the city. Passing through the arches, she disappeared into the foliage of the Wilds to return to her camp. OOCThis was so fun...and painful. XD I'm good here boys, feel free to finish up. Thanks for the RP, it was great.

[Halin'a]

Watching the other two spar was like watching a dance. Both Yuri and Saraphina were lean, but even Halin'a, inexperienced as he was, could tell that they were both skilled and stubborn. Saraphina pulled several tricks-- such as going completely lax in Yuri's arms at one point-- that the Ethaefal made a mental note to remember; something like that, becoming a complete dead weight, would be extremely effective, he thought, for someone of his size. If nothing else, it stood a good chance of fooling his opponent into thinking that he'd given up. Halin'a had been about to take Yuri up on his offer when Saraphina announced that she was too sore for another round-- which, while disappointed, Halin'a completely understood; neither she nor Yuri had really taken things easy on each other, it looked like. So instead, Halin'a waved at Saraphina as she left before turning back to Yuri. "Thank you for the offer, but apparently I won't need your armor," he said with a slight grin. "It was amazing to watch you two fight-- clearly, I still have a lot to learn." The Ethaefal chuckled, and then held his hand out to Yuri to shake. "Perhaps we'll meet up again, some day?" he suggested. "I'm always looking for more sparring partners." OOCThat was a lot of fun to read! Totally understandable that Saraphina's too sore to go another round-- and I'm guessing Yuri is too, from his last reply. I really enjoyed watching you two fight; I think I picked up some new techniques to try out for writing combat(which I have always sucked at... >.>)

[Perplexity]

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Saraphina :

Skills:

• Acrobatics | +2 EXP
  Unarmed Combat | +5 EXP
  Boxing | +1 EXP
  Socialization | +3 EXP
  Teaching | +1 EXP
  Endurance | +2 EXP
  Tactics | +2 EXP

Injuries:

• Some mild bruises and sore muscles! Nothing time and a nice hot bath wouldn't soothe.

Lores:

• Acrobatics: Warm-Up Leg Stretches
  Unarmed Combat: Roundhouse Kick
  Unarmed Combat: Lunging Jab
  Boxing: Quick Jabs
  Halin’a: Ethaefal of Leth
  Race: Ethaefal, Beloved of Syna and Leth

Halin'a :

Skills:

• Socialization | +3 EXP
  Observation | +2 EXP

Lores:

• The Merits of Prostitution
  Saraphina: Practices the Kata
  Saraphina: A Kelvic
  Kata: A Disciplined Fighting Technique
  Unarmed Combat vs. Armed Combat
  Unarmed Combat: Basic Defensive Stance
  Unarmed Combat: A Series of Focused Attacks

Yuri :

Skills:

• Horsemanship | +1 EXP
  Riding (Horse) | +1 EXP
  Running | +1 EXP
  Acrobatics | +2 EXP
  Stealth | +1 EXP
  Socialization | +2 EXP
  Unarmed Combat | +4 EXP
  Endurance | +2 EXP
  Tactics | +2 EXP

Injuries:

• Some bumps and bruising! Nothing time and a soothing hot bath won't cure.

Lores:

• Horsemanship: Outfitting A Horse For Travel
  Unarmed Combat: Sparring Stance
  Unarmed Combat: Using Opponents Momentum To Gain Footing
  Acrobatics: Bounding Roll

Comments :

Be mindful of the phrasing that you use when entering dialogue. There are just some terms that wouldn't be commonly known to the average Mizaharian. Other than that, a delightfully engaging read. Do contact me at your earliest convenience if you have questions or concerns.