[flashback]Not so unvincible [Abashai]

[Fraha]

"Just in time" thought Fraha as Abashai's elbow passed near her eyes, distant enough to not harm her. Her attack however didn't go as expected, she hoped to knock her partner down but he didn't even move. Thinking fast was one of the most important things in combat, she knew that from her Father's teachings. This made Fraha realize an important detail of her current combat. The man in front of her wasn't her brother, nor her Papa who would always threat her in combat as a teacher with a student, and in any case go easy on her. Fraha understood that she was standing in front of an elder warrior, who had survived the desert working as a mercenary. Plus he was grown up, bigger, heavier and at least twice stronger physically than her. She had to keep that in mind for her next strike and keep focused despite the little of fear showing up punctually. So as her foot landed on the sand, sinking a bit, she twisted so that the second foot would stop on the sand in the right guard stance. But her serious expression vanished as soon as she saw Abashai's gentle grin. He was complimenting her. Smart move from his part since Fraha, listening to those words, smiled full teeth back to him. "Why thank you! But to be fair I was kidding about being the Yahebah prot..!" Lowing her guard a bit to answer Fraha barely noticed the man's dash so when she started to move away his swing from the left was already incoming. By instinct Fraha tried to block his blade but the surprise effect brought on of her hand away in search of balance leaving only one left hand against the swing. Aaauu!! was the audible sound coming right after the metallic "ching" of their blades colliding. It was too much, and so Fraha's blade simply made some resistance before she heard a rather wide lash on her buttocks. Straightening up the back in a flash Fraha jumped away, this time sideways in order to get off the dune. After a short flight, Fraha placed both feet and tilted the knees to slide down the dune in balance. You tricked me, but I won't fall for that more than once shouted she while rubbing slightly to ease the pain as she reached the bottom of the dune. Fraha waited for him to come down raising the sword again this time though she assumed a different pose. Her left leg, which was standing behind, now lowed to the ground until the thigh was almost horizontal while the front leg was straight forward pointing Abashai. Her Wakizashi wasn't now pointing forward but turned so that the thumb would be facing the opposite side of the blade, which was now leaning with the flat part against Fraha's forearm which in turn was before Fraha's chest, ready to block. She had the right hand still free, which was at her side, relaxed for the moment.

[Abashai]

This desert flower was indeed as nimble as a cat, Abashai conceded to himself. She had landed with grace, not a single step needed to keep her balance after hitting the sand. His own casual demeanor had lured Fraha to drop her defenses, and his quick smack on the backside was meant to remind her never to drop her defenses with any opponent. She was quick but her lack of diligence cost her. The wakizashi blade met his heavy khopesh, but not with enough force to deflect his strike. The flat of his blade met her rear with a sound smack, and the girl recoiled from the cheeky attack. Like a nimble cat, Fraha recovered quickly, scurrying to the end of the dune and sliding down deftly as if skiing down a snow covered slope. "Good, let that be a lesson to you little one, never let down your guard!" He walked to the end of the dune to peer down at her, the teen having now assumed a most interesting posture, as if she were ready to spring forth in a deadly strike. With much less ease and grace that the youngster, Abashai made his way down the sandy slope. "I believe you have learned more than just how to wield your stinger Fraha of Yahebah. You move like a monkey. You have taken your disadvantages...small size and lack of strength, and turned it to your advantage." Squaring off against her, Abashai raised his weapon again, his bright blue-green eyes narrowing as he gauged the girl. He studied her shoulders, watching for one to dip and hint at her next move. He met her youthful gaze, looking to see if they dart somewhere that might be her next target. To be honest, form her stance, he could not gauge where Fraha might go next. So he decided to make a move. He quickly swung the khopesh up high on his right side, spinning the weapon so it was backwards in his hand. Then he brought it low in a arc, aiming behind fraha's knees, aiming to use the dull backside of his blade to sweep her feet out from under her.

[Fraha]

The man in front of her reminded Fraha of her father for a while. It made sense, a slap on the butt and a lesson she was pretty used to hear. Infact it wasn't the first time she would lose concentration for no reason and get hit. To her it was more like a game to play even despite her father used to be very serious about this. Abashai's comment was fair, right but still it touched Fraha's pride slightly, she wished she could do something and give him advice too, but how? Standing flexed she could feel the weight on her thigh muscles it was stressing so she got higher to ease the fatigue. While she was looking at Abashai coming down from the dune she noticed how a grown man could be frightening. The slap he gave her wasn't strong and too painfull but that was the scariest thing. What if he got angry or simply lose controll striking her with his strenght. This idea didn't cross Fraha's mind untill she could feel it on her skin. Better be carefull thought Fraha. He stood in front of her again, he spoke praising words to her. What he told was true, Fraha always used to be weaker due to her constitution, a great disadvantage in combat which she had to deal with. Yet nature didn't leave Fraha without anything, and gifted her with other feauters, noticed quickly by the wise warrior in front of her. His words however weren't listened too much by Fraha which to not fall again in distraction decided to ignore him and stay focused only at his actions. Her only feedback was a quick smirk while to him. Abashai was watching at her eyes to see where she would strike, it was a good trick Fraha would probably notice if she wasn't so focused on...being focused. She only reacted as Abasai raised his blade over his head. She quickly raised did the same but ready to block, this time more succesfully because of the forearm. But then he turned the blade and aimed low swinging the blade at her knee. It was similar to a tripping action or a round kick so Fraha, almost by instinct bounced the foot raising the knee till it would nearly meet the chest. The crane pose, precarious yet dangerous and a fine guard. Abashai's swing passed by leaving something as an opening on his right side. She knew it wouldn't last long and the fright was still slightly present in her. She needed to study his opponement a but more in order to get the courage to attack. "Are you going to deal one strike at the time? my little brother is faster" It wasn't true, but Fraha knew out of her experience that provoking was, in some cases, a good method. This time it was risky cause anger an experienced warrior wasn't wise but she wanted to try. It was a spar anyway, so she could yell stop at any time. It was hot and movement mixed with adrenalyne made it all harder. A small drop of sweat ran down her forehead and passed near her eye. It was salty and irritated her a bit forcing her to close them a couple of times while she spoke to clean it away. *of all the moments, right now it had to happen right?* thought she while posing the raised foot behind her to go back to the previous pose, this time with the legs inverted.

[Abashai]

Shai could see the smack on the girl's arse hurt her pride more than her butt. It did make his point, and even as he spoke to her the man could see Fraha focus on him, not his words, ready for another strike. When his blade came down to sweep her feet out from under her, Abashai thought for a moment that he had her. She had raised her smaller blade to block, not expecting the sudden low swing. But the desert waif was full of surprises, and the nimble girl leaped and hiked her leg high, allowing his blade to pass beneath her without contact. Seeing his trick failed, Fraha was emboldened, her cheeky remark causing the desert warrior to smirk. He was taking it easy on her, but it seemed the snarky girl had some experience, and was ready for more. With a sudden grimace, his weapon still raised from his failed attack, Abashai took a quick step towards Fraha with his arm raised, a lightning fast elbow jabbed towards her jaw, stopping an inch from her face. His scowl turned to a wide grin. "A follow up strike is what you want little one? Be wary," He raised the khopesh in front of her, "this is not the weapon...this is." The man pointed to his head. "The sword, the elbow, a foot, a bow, a stick, a rock...they are simply tools. Always watch, for something unexpected may be used against you." He reached out to teasingly muss her dark hair.

[Fraha]

it was a second, no less, an instant before suddenly an elbow summoned out from nowhere near her face. She didn't even see it coming and as it stopped she got scared. Her eyes were spread watching the cloth on the elbow and the eyebrows raised as a retarded instinct of dodging hit her mind setting her weight backwards. But it wasn't controlled, a spontaneous movement that made her lose balance. Feeling herself falling she gasped "waah!" and fell on her back hands on the hot sand and one leg raised as a shield in front of Abashai. This man was indeed strongly that he seemed, just like her father he wasn't using his whole...heh not even a third of his true power. Then he spoke, his words were new to her. Altrough she knew this concept in the depts of her mind she never payed attention to it, forcing herself more on the blade and sometimes the legs. What he said made sense, Fraha looked him in the eyes and quetly nodded. So the key was the surprise. While her hand was placed on the ground she felt the heat of it. Still watching him in the eyes Fraha had an idea. She leaned forward to stand up, placing a hand on the sands to pull up one leg while the other was still in the sand. "I understand, it's about the surprise" said she as the left hand tightened the grasp on the hilt. Then, before standing up she quickly grabbed some sand and swinged the arm upwards throwing lot of sand at Abashai, aiming at the eyes. While doing this, hoping it would blind him or distract him at least she screamed "Behind you!" with the most scared voice she could. This should do the trick and confuse the older man enough to give Fraha a chance she ran on him, pushing as hard as she could to jump on him again, as she did before. This time though she would raise both legs in order to land with her knees on his chest. It wasn't easy, the man was bigger, stronger and scarier than her, plus who know what movement could he make while confused, or would he even get confused? Still faithfull about her plan Fraha jumped twisting her Wakizashi so it would encounter his blade and move it away giving her free landing space on his torso. As the contact happened she tried to lean as forward as she could to make him lose his balance and fall on his back. She placed the right hand on his forehead and pushed hoping to make him fall.

[Abashai]

The benshran wanderer looked down an Fraha, giving her another nugget of advice. The girl's eyes made contact with his, bright and understanding. Good, he thought, she was listening. The youth was brash and bold, and she could very well get herself in a situation where the things he showed her would save her life. Her nod of acknowledgment was encouraging. Fraha had potential. Most benshiran youths her age knew how to ply a sling, perhaps, unless they attended the Seat of the Son's in Yahebah. But this girl seems to have been taught by her father. He must be a skilled fighter indeed. But the weapon was not all she knew. The girl was quick, agile and had a lean strength. Abashai nodded in return when she stated that there was an element of surprise. the man was about to explain that that was part of it, but he was caught off guard. He did not see Fraha take up the fistful of sand, and when she suddenly flung it at him, Abashai raised his hand and turned his head. The sand spread in a cloud around him, forcing his eyes shut. He heard her yell "behind you", but the wanderer saw through her ploy. It did not matter, he was still recovering from the sand, attempting to clear his eyes of the grains when he felt her blade against his, batting it to the side as he tried to recover. The impact of Fraha's knees on his chest was unexpected, and his eyes finally opened to see the girl, a determined grimace on her otherwise angelic face. Her attack threw him off balance, her hand forcing his head back, and Abashai staggered backwards and then to the ground, on his back. He landed in the sand with a sound OOF! After he caught his breath, Shai looked up at the teenager sitting on his chest. A grin spread over his face and he laughed. "Yes! Surprise is key. You have indeed surprised me, Fraha of Yahebah." With a sudden shift of his hips to the right, Abashai reached up with his left arm and seized Fraha's left shoulder and shoved her in the opposite direction. The combination of movement was intended to throw the girl off of his chest. If successful, he would roll over and end up straddling her while she lay on her back.

[Fraha]

Shai's words confirmed her little victory, visible on her face in an expression between awe and satisfaction. But as he twisted the hips to the right she lost a bit of balance which remembered her to still focus on the spar. Too late though the man's arm was already covering most of her shoulder. With ease Fraha followed the direction of the push, unable to resist more than much. She tried to stay firm on Abashai but strenght wasn't something she could use in combat and Shai knew it. So with the eyes of a scared child the only option was to escape. Since the was rolling to her right Fraha decided to follow the push. She moved her knee on Abashai's chest and used it as a pedistal to leap away along with his shoving and her pression. However Fraha's foot got too deep inside the sand causing her to trip on her right foot with the face right in the sand. A quick recovery was obligate, she planted a the free right hand in the sand and rolled on her back with the Wakizashi raised to guard herself. She could feel the sand between her lips and on the forehead. A quick note to wash the hair later and she was again thinking of her next attack. If only she wouldn't trip

[Abashai]

As Abashai rolled one direction, he could see Fraha stumble in the other. The man lost sight of the girl for a breath as he rolled back to his feet, his weapon up and ready as he moved towards his young antagonist. The girl had successfully recovered and rolled onto her back. Shai moved hastily to exploit her position, but the girl's small but quick blade raised menacingly in defense. Seeing her moist lips now caked with sand, her hair dusted with it, Kovac grinned at Fraha. "Even the eypharian's graceful cats faulter at times, little one." With a lighten quick lunge, Abashai batted aside the wakizashi blade and pressed the edge of the khopesh to her neck as he stood over her. "You are a very impressive Fraha. I have not seem many who are as quick as you, or who wield as deadly a sting. But a word of advice. Do not let your pride push you into something you are not ready to handle. Yahal rewards the faithful, not the foolhardy." With a smile, Shai lowered his blade and offered his hand to Fraha to assist her in getting up.

[Colombina]

The XP Wand Is Waved! A good little thread! I appreciate the lighthearted approach woven with a strong grasp of regional knowledge. Abashai's Loot 3 XP khopesh 1 XP riding 2 XP Teaching Lore of basic parries fit for a wazikashi Lore of path to Yahebah through Eyktol Colombina is pleased.

[Fraha]

what about me?