[Flashback]What Color is Blue Bruised?[Kendoka Sasaran]

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Rykanis figured he had not been aiming for his eye. Really, it would have been a bit rude, considering they were in a spar. But, accidents did happen, and things could not always go smoothly. He did not even notice the helping hand, and ended up getting back up by himself, without help. It took him a chime to be back to a fighting state, although he still could not open the eye that had been struck, his left one. It was already beginning to get swollen and puffy. He did however take the offered lakan, as he had been expecting it, since he had asked for it. Though he was a bit surprised that his foe thought that he would quite over that. It was only an eye, not like he broke something. And he could still fight with one eye, admittedly not as well... "Of course we can continue. I wouldn't be dissuaded that easily. But were are my manners? I have been the one initiating the whole time, why don't you take a turn?" Having said that, Rykanis dropped into a defensive stance, bending his knees a bit, and turning his body turned at an angle, so that his right side was pointed at Imass. His lakan holding right arm was up in front of him, at chest level, and his left arm held down and ready at his left side... He nodded to his partner, reminding him to attack.

[Imass]

Imass's face lit up when Rykanis stood to his feet unshaken and opted to continue fighting. His eye was quickly becoming swollen shut. It looked painful indeed, but the older Akalak did not waver one bit. It would not be too much to say that the youngster admired this stoic Akalak. Not only did he stand up with no signs of pain in his face, but he also offered to Imass the opportunity to strike first. He was definitely a tough guy.

Imass on the other hand was heaving loudly from his knock to the chest. His whole body was pulsating in pain. Although it was painful, it felt good at the same time. The bruises on his arms and legs would harden his body for future bouts. Gaining his breath back, the sweaty youth cooled off a little. This wasn't good though because the pain became sharper.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, the young Akalak prepared himself. He held his Lakan pointed forward at his opponent with his off hand up and ready to strike. He stood with his feet spread apart and firmly planted on the floor. Rykanis got into a defensive stance. He turned his right side to Imass and held his own wooden weapon at a ready position at his chest.

The duel would continue with Dakshata's nod.

Imass bended at the knees then sprung forward at his opponent. Imass did not watch his footwork or anything though. He simply ran at his opponent and attempted to mimic Rykanis's earlier attack. He slashed at the Akalak's leg.

[Rykanis Dakshata]

Resilience. That was a large characteristic of most Akalaks. They did not simply give up when things got hard. Far from it, they would then push harder, and try to prove themselves even more, when at a disadvantage. Of course, both of them had fought well, been injured at some point, landed some blows. They had honored there families today, and proven there worth as men. Even if Imass was not yet a man. They were not to far from being done, but a bit more fighting, pushing just a bit more, would make them all the better. As Imass finally came at him, Rykanis was a flurry of counter-blows. Even with one eye, he was a roaring tempest, though his depth perception was a bit off. He managed to slap most of the blows away, meeting them with his own lakan, before darting back, and throwing it out to meet the next... This worked for all but the last blow. Rykanis went to block it with an attack, but he aimed a few inches off... His lakan whizzed by in the open air, just missing, and he was struck in the chest by the practice weapon. Once more, Rykanis let out a "Ugh!", and dropped to one knee. He waved off Imass, trying to catch his breath, just now noticing the sweat on his brow, and arms... "I... I think we are done for today... Perhaps it is time to rest... I had a good fight... And look forward to facing you again."

[Imass]

The last portion of the fight was action packed and tough. Although Rykanis had a handicap, he was much more experienced than Imass so it actually leveled out the playing field. Imass came in swinging as fast as his young body could go; Overhead swing, side slash, overhead, under, over, stabs at chest. Imass delivered a flurry of blows for his opponent to parry. Imass started to breath hard and his body began to sweat. He really didn't know if his attacks were truly effective, however he swung with all his power and might.

Each time Rykanis counterblow, Imass felt the reverberation of the wood into his arm. The wooden handle of the practice weapon began to feel sweaty and rough, so he gripped even more. The whole room was beginning to get strangely humid too. The occasional quick glance would reveal to Imass that everyone else dueling in the dojo was going just as hard as Rykanis and he. Akalaks were a resilient bunch and would keep fighting hard to get better and win. Everyone in the room was sweating, everyone was working hard, and everyone was bruised.

The floor was another testament to the Akalak's hard work ethic. The floor of the dojo was full of droplets of sweat and the occasional droplets of blood. Spit and flam was common too. Imass did not register these facts though; he was way too busy fighting Rykanis. When the Akalak countered Imass needed to use all his energy to try to parry, but his opponent was too fast. All Imass could do was eat the attack and swing back harder. Using his arm and shoulder as the brunt of his blocking arm, Imass had no other choice. He rather he slapped in the arm, which would only result in bruising, than get stabbed in the chest again or something.

The fighting continued for minutes and it was apparent both Rykanis and Imass were getting tired. Dakshata's depth perception wasn't up to par either, and was slowly getting worse, because after dozens of successful counter attacks, Rykanis finally slipped and missed with his last parry. In result, Imass smashed him in the chest with his Lakan. The opponent immediately dropped to a knee and clenched his chest in attempt to gain his breath back.

Imass stood by him breathing hard. His whole body was sore. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins and going to each and every bruise on his body. He knew that waking up the next morning would be painful and difficult. Rykanis was right; they were done for the day. Already his whole body was various shades of black and darker blue.

"You are a talented fighter my friend," Imass said out of breath, "You fight well, much better than me. If it wasn't for my lucky shot you would have beaten me long ago. Shall we call the spar a draw then? We can have a rematch in a fortnight to give us time to recover. What say you?"

[Gossamer]

. Character: Rykanis Dakshata Experience: Lakan +5, Dodging +4, Brawling +2, Unarmed +2 Lore: Importance of using ‘Practice Weapons’ to Practice, Being Aware Of Ones Own Weakness, Identifying and Correcting Ones Own Flaws In Form, Mixing Armed and Unarmed Combat Techniques, Functioning In A Fight Half Blind, Knowing When To Say “Enough”, Being a Gracious Sparring Partner Character: Imass Experience: Lakan +5, Dodging +4, Brawling +3, Unarmed +2 Lore: Letting Others have ‘First Strike’, The Importance of Resetting One’s Stance During Sparrings, Identifying and Correcting Ones Own Flaws In Form, Recovering Breath From A Chest Blow, Taking Advantage of an Opponents Distraction, Mixing Techniques And Trying Options During Sparring For a Diverse Combat Experience, Being A Gracious Sparring Partner. Additional Note: Great sparring thread. I really enjoyed it that you guys kept changing up the moves and describing them well for the reader. I know you guys were ‘armed’ but I gave you some ‘unarmed’ due to techniques meaning the leg sweeps and feints because you guys have earned them. I gave Rykanis the Brawling for the Cow Kick to Imass’ chest. You big meanie. .