A Day to Train [Riki]

[Lakara]

Season of Spring, Day 10, 510AV It was one of those rare moments when everything just quietened down. Lakara had completed her morning duties, and there were no new patients who needed immediate attention. The Konti now stood by the stables, gently stroking the nose of a dapple grey Windrunner. Xypher was her only companion, and she missed spending time with him. Well, she did still see him each day if she could, but it wasn't half as much as she had done before she came to the Sanctuary. All the same, it didn't seem to be having much of an effect on the horse. In fact, he seemed to relish the company of the various equines he was boarded with. Lakara gave him one last pat and a smile, before wandering away from the stable block. She looked up to the sky, squinting into the endless stretch of cloudless blue, the colour not dissimilar from that of the Konti's eyes. She had inadvertently wandered into the training area. She stopped in her tracks and looked round. It was empty. It would have been a perfect time to train. For what she was unsure, perhaps for Suvai, or even unarmed. The Konti was relatively unskilled in both aspects, but she felt that she needed to learn, not for the sake of learning, but for defense. If she could, she would never even consider training in a form of fighting, but unfortunately, it was necessary. She tapped her foot, lost in thought. She didn't know the first thing about training alone. She tried a mock punch into the air before her, almost laughing at herself, wondering how daft she looked. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. If only someone would turn up and make it easier.

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki found himself with an good span of time where he was not expected to healing horses or bandaging up broken limbs. Of course, the call of his fellow healers would make him spring into action quicker than the blink of an eye. He and Sadie walked togather around the outside of the Sanctuary, his green eyes taking in the lush scenery around him. Sadie enjoyed the walk, it was nicer on her paws to walk on grass than the groomed floors of the Sanctuary. "What do you want to do today Sade?" The Ghost Dog looked up at him with her light blue eyes and let out a small bark. Riki did not know what his beloved companion was trying to comunicate to him. He would have given something great for Cayiha to smile upon him and let him understand his furry friend. Riki was glad just to me noticed by one Goddes. It was more than enough in his eyes. Besides, over the years he had somewhat started to understand her idiosyncracies and habits. As the pair walked a pale girl could be seen ahead of them. Riki looked at her knowing he knew her from somewhere. "Come on Sadie, lets see who it is." He walked forward with Sadie at his feet. The girl seemed to be attempting to fight alone. It was an interesting sight. A small blonde girl fighting absolutely nothing. "Hello, I suppose having a sparring partner might be helpful. I don't know anything about combat but maybe I'll learn something by you knocking me around a bit." He smiled at her and Sadie scampered out to her side. She wagged her tail playfully and sniffed at Lakara's feet. "Sorry, she is a bit friendly." He laughed and walked to Sadie's side, running a hand through her thick grey and black fur. "So what sort of combat were you practicing? It did not seem like anything from Endrykas where I am from." He was interested in the girl's attempt at fighting practice. He was always more of a healer than a fighter but the Gods knew there would come a day where he would need to fight. Learning now would be better than never. His mediocre archery skills were not going to keep him safe forever.

[Lakara]

She stood in the training area, her arms crossed before her. Lakara frowned at nothing in particular; she was trying to think of a way to practice alone. She honestly knew nothing at all, and the best she could come up with was hitting the fence. She laughed to herself at the thought. A voice behind her made her turn round, and she was greeted by the sight of a familiar face. She uncrossed her arms and smiled while trying to place him. SHe was certain that he worked at the Sanctuary too, she could remember seeing the same dog following him around. His name eluded her though, so in the end she just replied to him. "Ah yes, it would be very helpful indeed." She paused. "To be honest, I don't know anything either, I was sort of...improvising." She smiled, giving a light laugh at herself. She bent down when the dog approached her, and she smiled and petted her head. "It's fine. She's gorgeous." Lakara beamed at the dog, then stood and returned her attention to the man again. "I was aiming for unarmed, but it was probably more...'flail wildly till you hit something'..." She grinned sheepishly before offering her hand to him. "My name is Lakara, by the way. Maybe we can work something out that means we both get some practice in?"

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki smiled and shook Lakara's hand. "Nice to meet you Lakara. I'm Riki Stormheart and this little lady is Sadie." Sadie licked Lakara's face as she pet her. She loved when people gave her attention. It was mostly due to the fact Riki as constantly treating her like a little Drykas princess. He would not let his canine friend feel like any less though. She was his family as he best friend. "Thank you. I'm sure she would thank you as well if she could." "I would love to practice with you!" Riki tried to think back to Endrykas. People were quite good fighters there. They had to be to protect their home from the beast that hid in the Sea of Grass. "So where are you from if you don't mind me asking. I will take a guess and say Mura because you are a Konti." If she was from Mura she was already more skilled in fighting than Riki was. A girl who could get from Mura to Riverfall was a skilled fighter in his book. "I only know the fighting that I saw the other clans use in Endrykas. I am from Opal clan, the healers of Endrykas. There is not a lot of room for fighting here." Riki raised up his fists and jabbed at the air with his fists. Kicking and punching. That seemed to be the basics. Throw in blocks and doges and you had a good set of skills. Of course, the two of them were terribly unskilled. They would end up looking a bit like fools although it might be a bit fun. "I guess we can start with punches. Unless you want to try something else."

[Lakara]

"Lovely to meet you too." She nodded and beamed at Riki when he accepted her offer to join her. Her smile turned rather wry though, before she answered his question. "You would think." She paused. "I was actually born here in Riverfall. My mother took my sisters and I back to Mura though, so in a way you are correct." She gave a small shrug. "But my journey back here was not taken alone. My companions were the ones who took on the defensive. I merely healed them if they needed it." She gave another nod when he spoke of Endrykas. She couldn't remember ever visiting there, so she was unfamiliar with any fighting style they may have. "I only have some very limited knowledge of Suvai. Though I expect it's not really enough to help me very much." Lakara watched as Riki gave the air some mock punches. "No, that sounds like a good place to start." She figured that punches were a pretty basic skill to begin with. The Konti walked to the centre of the training area before holding up her hands. Her palms were level with her shoulders, but quite a way in front, and facing towards Riki. "Did you want to try and aim some at my hands?" She gave a sort of challenging smile. She looked delicate, but she wasn't weak. She should easily be able to keep her hand relatively still if Riki hit her palm.

[Riki Stormheart]

"You are lucky no one got too hurt. I traveled here with my brother but he did not make it through the journey. Sadie, my canine companion got hurt in the process of getting here too." Riki looked over at Sadie who simply smiled back at him with a canine-like panting smile. He was happy she did not blame him for her getting hurt. She was much better now. When she had gotten hurt her front leg had been bitten quite hard and it had been bleeding terribly. Now she only harbored a small limp, one that was quickly fading. Riki looked at Lakara with a small smile. Weren't Konti supposed to be fragile? He did not want to break her hands with his fist. "I could always heal them a bit if they broke." He shrugged and got into a fighting stance. He did not want to hit her too hard. His green eyes looked over her scaled palms and he punched them with a fraction of his strength. She seemed to stand firm though. Another couple jabs crashed into her hands and Riki looked at her with worried eyes. "Want me to hit a little softer... er, or harder. I'm not trying to say you are weak." Riki's face turned a bright red after his trainwrek of a question. He tried a few more jabs to her hands but he could not help feeling embarassed. Next, Riki held up his own palms for Lakara. "Here, hit me as hard as you like." He was not expecting the hits to be too hard. After all he was Drykas and she as a Konti. His race was known for being tough and strong in battle. Konti were known as healers and seers, not fighters. OOCI promise Riki isn't racist. He has just has not met a lot of Konti in his life.

[Stranger]

XP Award!

Riki Stormheart:

Unarmed Combat: +1


Notes: Sorry I couldn't find much more. Most of it was agreeing to the plan. It's super cute, though. I love his smug little "I could always heal it..." Hah. Anyway, too bad you didn't get to finish!