[Flashback] Be a Man II (Solo)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Fall 33, 512 AV Talya made her way into the designated clearing again. She found it to be unoccupied, save for a few squirrels flitting through the drying grass; creatures she scattered into the trees as she entered the empty space herself and looked around. The sun's light playing off her skin; casting half of her in its illumination, and half in shadow. The cotton folds of her dress, billowing within those of her long black cloak, in the light breeze that filtered through the trees. Rustling the leaves, scattering the debris that had fallen, forcing them to roll across the earth like weeds. She waited for the image of Martin to appear for a few moments, and when he didn't she shrugged, and decided to try working out a new dagger form on the spot. She began by unsheathing her blade, and and holding it steady in her right hand in a backward grip, while she took a forward stance. Her toes directed ahead of her, her feet spaced no more than six inches apart. Her hands held out at her sides until she took a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth, and raised them each before her. She pressed her palms together, at a level close to her chin, a few inches before her face, and bowed, before pulling her hands apart. She drew them each out to her sides, so that they came to rest before her shoulders, before crossing them back in so the arms formed an "X" shape together. It was then that another yukman materialized out of the trees, he looked like the beast that had come the day before. At this point, Talya stepped forward with her right foot, and placed most of her weight upon it, as she pushed her arms out again into their previous position. She then swept her left hand down so that it was resting in the air on a slight diagonal directed toward her right hip. As she did this, she swept her right hand to the left, so that it played across her field of vision, its shadow darting across her face as she stepped forward with the left foot next, and pushed her right hand out in the opposite direction, while the left remained planted in its place. From there, Talya pulled her blade back over her head, on the right side of her body, before stepping forward again and sweeping the weapon down in a slight arc toward her extended right leg. Her slightly bent knee, while her left arm danced back. Palms clenched into a fist, as it came to a rest in the pocket position, to the left side of her body. None of this hit the yukman, who sailed out of the way on every occasion. Talya then leaned forward, into her shoulder, and twisted her arm so that the wrist was directed outward, toward her opponent. She then pushed her arm out from the elbow, and thrust the blade ahead of her, toward the monster. The attack was swift but hit nothing as the beast dodged, and she pulled the blade back within an instant, and allowed her body to straighten and unravel before stepping back with her lead foot, so that it rested in the same line as the one in the rear. Both feet were directed ahead of her as her left arm remained by her side, and the right rose to a place about eight inches in front of her right pectoral muscle. She twirled the blade between her fingers in a moderately paced clockwise motion, eight times, before drawing the hand over to the left, while continuing the same motion, and completing another eight rotations when it had reached the other side. Again, the dagger never struck the beast, who seemed to begin anticipating her motions, and blocked each with a thrust with his arm, or simply walked out of the way. It was then that Talya turned abruptly on her heels, and stepped forward with her right foot, while the left shot forward and punched the air around the yukman, (as he had dodged this too), before returning to her side.

[Talya]

Talya then punched the air with the hand that bore the blade, (as again the beast stepped out of the way), then pulled it back, and returned the punch with her left, this time striking the shoulder before she retracted her hand. Some dirt crumbled away, but nothing more. She breathed deeply, in through her nose and out through her mouth, before punching again with her right hand, and then rotating the blade clockwise, for two rotations, with a flick of the wrist. When it stopped, she pulled both arms back, and then pushed them forward in a side by side punch, before retracting her left hand again, and keeping it tucked neatly into pocket. (Or at her side with the fist resting directly beneath her arm pit). Again, she hit nothing more than air as the yukman danced around her. Meanwhile, her right foot slid farther forward, and her leg bent at the knee, allowing her to allot more pressure to her foot as she eased into a lunge. Her right hand retracting half way back to her side before she pushed it forward again, and jabbed at the yukman with her dagger, thus completing the move. This time, she struck but only shallowly, as the beast didn't so much as howl. She then drew the leg back a little, rotated on her hip, and performed a roundhouse kick with the right leg, that wound up turning her around so that she now faced the west. The yukman kicked her in the back and knocked her forward, nearly sending her toppling, but she righted herself and turned. With her right leg leading again, and the left falling behind, Talya found herself to be slightly unbalanced. Her left foot was curled toward the left side of her body, while the right, only lightly so, so that they formed perhaps, a forty-five degree angle with one another. Her body was held in such a way, that only the right side of it was presented to the yukman, but, she was leaning inward more, as though she were about to fall. She tried to take a moment to straighten herself, but she found it awkward and the beast was swinging its arms at her, although she knew not why, (as she hadn't exactly provoked it as far as she was concerned, in fact things seemed to be the other way around, anyway, she decided to try and fix it with another move similar to her last. So, she moved her left hand along her chest, following the lines her lowest ribs formed across her belly. She held the arm taut, just a few inches before her body, and allowed her fist to come to a final rest just before her right hip. The right arm fell before this, so that it formed an opposing mirror. She then forced the arm out, and tried to knock the angry yukman back, out of the way, to create more room for her next intended attack. It worked, but not nearly as much as she had intended. Talya crept forward, and raised her right hand high over her head, so that the dagger's point wasn't resting all that far from her ear. She then jumped up, and projected her right leg through the air in a roundhouse kick. She must have pushed it to far, or perhaps miscalculated when she would land, before she fell on the side of her feet and toppled over. She hit the ground fairly hard, and the dagger's point cut through the soil. Talya shook her head lightly, clearing it out as she pulled her dagger out of the ground, cleaned it by wiping the blade on her dress as she forced herself onto her feet to continue the fight as the yukman swung at her with its massive arms. She moved out of the way as she fell into a stance that would have been her next, a half lunge with the right foot leading. She then raised her blade on high again, over her head, and brought it down toward her extended knee, to ensure she had at least some of the momentum built up from her last movement to continue propelling her forward. She then proceeded to twirl the blade between her fingers again, for eight clockwise rotations as her left hand fell farther back into its protective pocket. During this time the yukman swung at her, but she stepped back and back again, then once to the side to avoid its strikes, as she surveyed it, and calculated many a thing.

[Talya]

From there Talya stepped back, so that her right foot was now behind the left, and her left side was directed toward her opponent. Her right arm was held down against her side, while the left finally came out of pocket, and slid protectively across her chest. She peered over her shoulder to the north, while her left leg bent inwards a little, and the right outward, like she was performing a rather sloppy curtsy, with her gap between her limbs. From there, she swung her right leg around, so that she turned her entire body around toward the north side. This was dumb, for the beast swept at her again, and she narrowly avoided by moving to the side, and then turning back around to face it. She let her right foot lead, and held her body as though she were taking the traditional shooting stance of a left eye dominant bowman. She twisted her body a little more, rotating it from the hip up, so that only the right side of her body was now open to her opponent's attacks. As she did this, she brought her right hand over her body, before letting it dive back under, as though she were swimming through the air with one arm, with a dagger in her hand, that would rake through her opponent's side and gut. Except it didn't. Again, annoyingly, the yukman dodged. At this point, Talya waved the dagger back and forth, rotating it between her fingers again, as she drew her hand a little to the right, and then a few inches back on the left. A few inches right again, a few inches left, as she took a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth. She then forced the blade to stop rotating after she had lost count of how many times she had made it do so, and furthermore, none of them struck the beast. With the weapon stilled, she pushed it forward, punching out at the monster with the blade held on a slight diagonal. The yukman tried to punch her again, while she pulled it back, and repeated the process, but this time, she tilted the blade forward, and stabbed angrily at the monster before pulling her right arm back into a cocked starting position. The left then, moved out of pocket as soon as the right had returned, and performed an uppercut that Talya stepped into, before she drew her left hand back into pocket, and she took the step back as well. Shooting her right hand forward again to slash at the beast, before once again, taking it back. Talya repeated this last step a few more times for practice, and missed every time as the yukman guessed what she would do, before taking another deep breath and stepping forward again. As she did this, the left hand slid across her chest in a defensive position, while the right and the dagger with it, rose into the air above her head. She arced it back a little, so that the arm formed a slight crescent, (as ballerinas take in their dance), and then as she rotated slightly on her hip toward the left side, she brought her blade down and in, toward her left hip, while taking care not to accidentally stab her other arm. When the blade had fallen, Talya pulled it back up over her head, and then brought it back down, stabbing viciously at the yukman as sweat began to trickle down the length of her brow, and her heart began to beat even faster than before from her continued exertion. Still, she could not seem to hit the beast.

[Talya]

The Ethaefal sank into her traditional starting position, and took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth. She waited a few moments, thinking that the yukman would attack her again before she had the chance to make a move, but she was mistaken. It didn't stir from its half crouch, and instead, seemed to be waiting on her. So she obliged the yukman by darting forward. As she ran ahead, she pulled her right arm back, so that her arm remained poised to spring forward at any second. When she had come within striking distance of her opponent, Talya forced her arm downward, cutting through the air like an ax, intending to stab the yukman with the point of her blade, in a place around his left shoulder. The monster avoided her attack however, by stepping back a bit, and then coming forward to swipe at Talya's middle with his earthen arm. Talya deflected the attack by moving her blade across her opponent's arm, and swatting it out of the way. The pair then exchanged a series of volleys similar to this. Their blade and arm met again by Talya's right shoulder, then her hip. Then a little closer to his. The arm and blade crept closer to Talya again, as she grit her teeth, and her heart began to beat a little faster. She could hear a faint thud as they met by her chin, then by her left shoulder; then they met between their bodies, just in front of their pectoral muscles. They locked by his left shoulder, then glided over to his right, before inching down toward their belly buttons. They pulled apart, and then she imagined that they thudded again in meeting by their sides, and then, by their hearts again, before Talya grew tired of the exchange, and took a few steps back to make room, and gather herself before making another attempt at cutting the yukman with her dagger. Talya took a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth. She was just releasing whatever remained when the yukman sprang at her, with a side swipe aimed at her right side. Talya deftly stepped back, out of the way of its progression, and moved around it. Twisting at the last moment so that she could slash the yukman on the back of his arm with her blade. He grimaced as she danced away, and he turned rapidly, ramming the side of his arm into her shoulder before they separated. Talya's breath coming in short huffs as the pain of the attack, coupling with her past bruises, surged through her body. She grit her teeth as she forced herself forward, and jabbed at the yukman. Slashing first toward one shoulder, and then the other. Before moving back to the right, and then into his middle. Each time, she was knocked aside, or avoided with a side step. Groaning inwardly, Talya tried one last move. She pulled her body sideways, so that her feet were next to each other, and her form turned away from her opponent. She then stepped toward him with her right foot, and then twisted her body around with the left, while her blade swept inward with the motion stabbing toward his middle. The blade grazed lightly over the yukman's skin as Talya was whacked on her exposed back with his arm. She could hear a seething hiss of breath escape through the yukman's clenched teeth, as he faltered long enough for her to stab him through the heart with a quick, fluid motion. From there, Talya stepped over the dead body of the yukman, and returned home to rest, tired of the adventures from the last few days.

[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

• Observation: 2
• Meditation: 2
• Acrobatics: 4
• Weapon: Dagger: 4
• Unarmed Combat: 2
• Bodybuilding: 3
• Endurance: 3
• Tactics: 2

Lores

• Unarmed Combat: Basic punches
• Unarmed Combat: Roundhouse kick
• Meditation: Slow breathing during combat
• Dagger flourish: Twirling a dagger

Comments: Nice thread. I like the variety of fighting styles. Just be careful not to over play skills like unarmed combat. Her tumble after the roundhouse kick made up for it (in my opinion).

Your Grader,

Sayana

Boxcode design: Firenze