[Flashback] Be a Man (Solo)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Fall 31, 512 AV Talya must have arrived in the clearing early, as the image of Martin was not there yet. The wind was blowing softly through the trees, rustling whatever leaves remained on their branches. The Ethaefal stood strong and tall at the center of their ring, having decided to remain waiting a short time to see if he would arrive. But the image of Martin didn't and having decided that she wanted to waste no time, and use the emptiness for something productive, Talya decided to train on her own until he showed up. So, she reached for her dagger, and drew it into the open, before thinking a moment on what she should do, and determining it best, a few moments later, to run through a sort of dagger form she had created. She began by taking a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, before moving fluidly into the form by raising both of her hands, so that they were level with her shoulders when they reached their highest point. When she was done, she pushed them back down, and turned to her right side. She rotated her right foot against the ground, so that it turned to point to her right side, while the left was still directed toward the north. She bent her body, and lent weight to her right foot, as it slid a little farther forward. She then pushed her left hand across her body until it had gone as far as it would go. She cupped this hand, and held it palm facing up toward the sky. The right she guided atop it, holding it in a similar position, about a foot apart from her other hand. The palms matched up to each other, and the dagger fell naturally against the length of her right arm, as she held this position a moment, looking as though she were holding an invisible orb to any who might have been onlooking. Talya took another deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth before moving into the next position. She began by stepping out with her left foot, which in turn, rotated her body as she directed its point to the northwestern portion of the clearing. As this occurred, her left hand came out from under the right in the same fluid motion. She raised it until it was about level with her face, her palm held flat, so that it seemed as though she were looking at her reflection in a small mirror. Her right hand sank, so that her balled fist rested by her right hip, and her right leg had turned to support a slight lunge in which the left side of her body led. The majority of her weight resting upon her lead foot. This position she held as well for a moment, before taking another deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth. She then turned her left hand over, and lifted the front of her foot off of the ground, before turning it toward the right. The right side of her body remained largely the same, although she lifted her right hand up and into the air as far as it would go, before trailing behind with the left, as though she were crying out in alarm in a dramatic play. The dagger twisted, darting up into the air, before flipping back in, like a switch blade, as she rocked her weight from her right foot to her left, and drew her arms back down into a clean sweep toward her left hip. From there, Talya drew her right arm forward. It was bent at the elbow, and glided through the air easily as she directed it ahead of her hip, with the rotation of her body. Her left arm followed behind it. Although it was kept relatively straight, and seemed to be pushing the right, as though it were bracing it, or lending it some level of strength as it moved through the air. The left hand then slid toward the right, as though it were brushing dirt off the arm. When it reached the hand, it pulled away, making a small space of about four inches between them. Then, together, the arms drew back as Talya sank onto her feet. Rocking back onto the left foot that had been left behind. Then forward again as she rocked her weight back onto her lead foot, and pushed out with each of her arms.

[Talya]

Talya then moved her left hand in a small circle, as though she were trying to wash the surface of a dirty window that rested somewhere in the center of her two arms. She repeated the process, making a slightly larger circle with her right hand, as she shifted her weight again from one foot to the other, and sank onto her back leg. She breathed deeply again, in through the nose, and out through the mouth, before furling her fingers so that of her left made a sort of beak. She then pushed this behind her, so that it would protect her behind, while rotating on her feet. Bringing her blade bearing hand to rest behind the left, while her left foot raised itself so that she balanced on the balls of her feet. Her right foot, which now faced the other side, held the majority of her weight, as she slowly raised each of her arms over her head, and then let them break apart. The right, she curved slightly, and kept over her head, as though she were striking a ballerina pose, while the left sank to her left hip, and was held there, palm facing down toward the ground. Talya then began to rotate on her hips, although she didn't move her feet. Her right arm glided inward, while her left did the same, and then wind-milled in a way, so that she formed the mirror of her previous position. From there, she arched her back slightly as she wind-milled her arms again, bringing her right arm behind her, in a straight line, while she tucked her left against her breast. She then stepped out with her right foot, while the left inched forward. She brushed her left hand across the knee, as the left foot sank into a relaxed position where she partitioned the majority of her weight. The right foot slid forward more with the progression of her arm, which she used to push the blade into a stabbing attack, given more of an extension by the grace of her lunge. With this done, Talya drew herself up. Her left foot raised until she rested on only the point again, and the right foot sank back, so that it was slightly behind the left, with no space between them. Meanwhile, her right hand drew back, into a lazily cocked position before her chest, with the left in a similar position, although directed downward, about a foot below the right hand or less. It gave the appearance that Talya was strumming an instrument as she slipped into the next position, which was the same as the one she had just left behind. She brushed her knee with the same hand, and then extended her right arm to stab the air. With a deep breath, she rocked her left foot backward, and shifted her weight as she stepped forward again, and repeated the move on the opposite side, which left her left hand to stab at the air, and the right to remain in a lazy guard. One last time, she repeated the move on the right side, letting it lead with a stabbing attack. Talya took another deep cleansing breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. She figured she was about halfway through now, and still, there was no image of Martin in sight.

[Talya]

Talya sighed to herself as she took a step forward, before bending her right arm at the elbow again, and twisting it outward in an awkward, side punching strike. As she did this, her right foot followed underneath it, and moved in the direction of her punch. Her left hand remained in pocket by her left hip. Her left leg didn't move at all. With this done, Talya extended her right arm, punching outward again, before stepping forward, and following up with the left. From there, she brushed off, and turned to face the east. Where she bent into her legs before coming up and swinging them in a wide circle, before stepping forward and sweeping the air in a back and forth zig zag- from left to right, with her blade. In three steps, she spun around so that she now faced the south,and jabbed at the air as she came through her spin, as though she were stabbing someone in the back. From there, she shuffled forward a few steps, and jabbed lazily at the air. She then danced back a few steps, and raised her blade as though to block a strike that attempted to hit her in the chest. The blade lowered naturally then, coming away from the other, before she glided in again, and struck out at the air in a lowering arc, that moved from the center of the upper portion of her chest, to her left hip, before shooting back up in the same line; retracting its steps. Talya spun again, stabbing wildly at the air, where the back of a person's arms may be a few times, before inching over more to stab at the back, and then the opposing side of the body, before spinning back out the front and dancing away from where an intended opponent may be. She took another deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, before sailing forward, as she swept her blade down toward her right hip, before thrusting her arm outward and upwards, so the blade spun out and raked at the air again. Talya was just about to slip into another move, when a voice cut her off. "Why do you fight like that?" it asked of her. Talya blinked a few times, as though collecting herself, pulling herself out of the dance with her blade. "What?" she asked, as she straightened and looked around the perimeter of the clearing, until her obsidian eyes settled upon the image of Martin. He looked much the same as the day before, as he was wearing the same set of clothes, (or at least something that looked like they could be), although his eyes were a little brighter. In a way, appearing amused. "Why do you fight like that?" the image asked again, as Talya's arms fell to either side of her body, and her thumb idly stroked the hilt of her blade. "What do you mean?" Tal asked. Martin's image gestured to her right arm, the one against which the cold metal of her blade rested. "Why do you fight with the blade tucked in like that?" he asked. "It's very limiting." Tal looked down at her hand, at the blade, as though noticing it for the first time. "Seems natural... like the blade shouldn't be held any other way." "Like the way I hold mine?" the image asked, as he unsheathed his own, and held it again, as one might a sword, with the blade pointed out toward the opponent. "Yes." "Have you ever tried it this way?" Talya shook her head. "Why?" Martin's image inquired. The Ethaefal shrugged. "Never saw the point." "Well maybe you should try it now." "Don't want to," Talya replied. "I like it this way." "Just try it, and if you don't like it, you can have it your way when we meet tomorrow." Talya looked skeptical. "Besides, if you learn how to do it both ways, you'll have more options, more skill... you could keep your opponents guessing all the more." Talya sighed, he did have a point. "Ok," she grumbled. "Good," Martin's image said as he entered the clearing, and the pair squared off. "We can start small today, so you can get used to the change in hold- maybe just with blocks, until tomorrow." Talya nodded, and mentioned nothing about his promise, as the sun glinted off the metal of their weapons, and she turned the blade in her hand, so that the point was turned toward Martin's image. It felt strange to her, but that was with anything new, and she had promised to give it a shot at least. And so she would.

[Talya]

Martin's image did indeed, begin rather slowly. He stepped forward in a walk several paces, closing the some of the distance that rested between them. As he did so, he raised his blade to meet with Talya's shoulder. Talya brought her blade up, and knocked Martin's blade away without even trying. "Good," he commented, as he sped up a little, and aimed another attack at her opposing shoulder. Talya took a step back, and knocked this attempt away as well, as he dropped his blade to meet with her hip. This time, she simply stepped back as he moved forward to close the distance. He swept his arm out in front of him, drawing the dagger with it. Talya raised her blade, and cut off the progression before gliding forward, urging him back a little as he pulled his own weapon into his side, before jabbing at the air in front of him with it. "Don't get ahead of yourself now," Martin's image chastised, as Talya raised her blade to knock his away again. "I won't," she called back, as she surged forward, and their blades met again as she swept her arm in. Hers jutting upward from a knock with his arm, his downwards, seeking to cut into her belly. This time, she had not the time it would take to defend, and the flat of his blade came crashing into her chest. Talya stepped back as she grimaced, knowing that a bruise would appear in the morning. She tried not to let the pain show as Martin's image darted forward, and tried an uppercut type of strike, in an attempt to slash under Talya's chin. Talya took another step back, and raised her blade to meet this, the clash of metal sounding throughout the clearing a moment later. Their weapons fell apart, each drawing them inward, before Talya tried her own punching strike, and it was knocked half-heartedly aside, before Martin's image swept his blade up and under, and tried to slash out at her again. Tal stepped back and blocked one last time, before her opponent retreated, and with a thin smile she imaged that he had said, "good, very good." He paused, as he sheathed his blade, and Talya was brought to do the same. "We can pick this up again tomorrow, and let a true spar take place, where you practice this new form with me." Tal nodded. "Same time?" Martin's image nodded. "See you then," she replied, as they each went their separate way, the image fading away into nothingness. OOCThe beginning of this takes several elements of tai chi's part one. It is more of a moving meditation than anything else, so I was hoping to get some exp in that as well. Also- I would like to express that each of the threads in this series is done with an image of someone in mind. It isn't so much a hallucination, as much as a sort of visualizing exercise.

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Talya

Skills

• Acrobatics: 3
• Meditation: 2
• Dancing: 3
• Dual wield: 1
• Weapon: Dagger: 3
• Bodybuilding: 2
• Observation: 1
• Socialization: 1
• Endurance: 1

Lores

• Dancing: Learning a dagger choreography
• Acrobatics: Using slow motions to improve balance
• Socialization: Talking to oneself
• Dagger: Holding it with the blade pointed away
• Visualizing exercise takes a life of its own
• Image of Martin

Miscellaneous
Talya will start dreaming of Martin frequently. The bruises she obtained from the fight will confuse her as to whether he is real or not.

Comments: The tia chi part was so detailed that it was a little hard to follow at times. Yet I liked how thorough it was in terms of training in different ways. Also, even though she was fighting an 'image' apparently she got bruises so as a grader I'm inferring that she somehow bashed herself with the blunt of her dagger or something related.

Your Grader,

Sayana

Boxcode design: Firenze