Completed [Flashback] Cold Weather Fist Fighting, Part 2 (Solo)

[Jynx]

The 42nd of Summer 512 The Northern Reaches OOC : Training Focus: Unarmed Combat (skill currently at 21) Six horses, four oxen-pulled wagons loaded with goods and services, two Kelvic guard bears, twelve men, four women, and Jynx. Two days has passed since the fight. Anna sought him out several times to tell him how grateful she was that he had rescued her. “Mr. Jynx,” she said. “Thank you again for saving me from a fate worse than death.” Some how he doubted it would have been worse than death but he allowed the hyperbole. He could not, however, allow the “Mr.” “Anna, please do not call me Mr. Jynx. My name is just plain Jynx.” “Yes, yes. I know. I'm sorry Mr. Jynx.” He began to suspect she was untrainable. But what really bothered him was the realization that she had decided he was her hero and was throwing herself at him. It was a role-reversal he could not quite get his head wrapped around. That night he slept, as he usually did, in his hawk form tucked in between burlap bags on one of the wagons. Cold hands wrapped around his neck and squeezed. He was yanked out of the wagon and found himself staring at Ike's broken face. The man looked awful. He was gaunt. His face was a mass of scabs and blisters. His eyes had a wild look. Jynx brought his talons to bear and tore into the man's arms. But Ike was ready for that. He had wrapped thick layers of rags around his arms. It wouldn't take Jynx long to rip through them but he wasn't sure he had that long. Ike headed away from the wagons at a jog, holding Jynx as far from his face as he could. Jynx was having trouble breathing and the pressure on his neck hurt a lot. He did the only thing he could thing of. He transformed. It's hard to say which would have broken first, Ike's grip or Jynx's neck. But the deciding factor turned out to be something entirely different. Jynx's abrupt increase in weight cause Ike to lose his grip as he was dragged down to the ground. Apparently Jynx had scrunched himself into a tight ball before the change. Jynx had never bothered trying to figure out the exact sequence of the transformation. Did he suddenly become man-sized but still light-weight? Did both happen at the same time in equal proportion? Did he gain a man's weight while still gaining size? The struggle with Ike didn't provide any clarity for him. All he knew was that Ike's grip loosed enough for his neck to expand to its full man-size. Ike stumbled back as Jynx rose to his full height, his hand to his neck, coughing and gagging. He didn't see Ike's fist coming at him like a hammer; a big, arcing round-house that caught him solidly on the left side of his jaw. It sent him sprawling. And it hurt. Jynx staggered to his feet, shaking his head to clear the fog he was in. He needed some time to fully regain his senses. He naturally fell into a fighting stance: Left foot forward, right foot back, knees slightly bent, fists at chin height, elbows in. Ike threw a quick right jab at him but he knocked it away with this left forearm. Ike followed with a flurry of left-right punches, most of which Jynx knocked aside, letting himself retreat in a series of quick two-step shuffles. Ike looked like he was getting frustrated at his inability to actually hit Jynx more than one out of four times. Finally Jynx felt like he was in full control of his body again, and that he understood how Ike fought. The man was a street-fighter. Not something to take lightly, but no match for someone with Jynx's training in unarmed combat. Ike circled him, fists moving back and forth. Jynx just turned with him. Ike had a longer reach than Jynx and probably thought he could deliver punches without getting close enough for a counter-punch. He underestimated Jynx's speed. Jynx did a lightening quick forward two-step, which brought him in close. His trainer had once told him, “When you get inside a man's personal space, he will feel very uncomfortable and his natural instinct will be to back away.” He feinted a left jab to Ike's face as he closed the distance between them and then threw his weight into a solid right to Ike's abdomen. The man expelled a lot of air with a loud “Oof” and tried to back up to get some distance. But Jynx had anticipated this. He followed the man, staying in close, and delivered a combination of punches to the man's abdomen. Ike was looking pale, even through the scabs. He managed to deliver a glancing blow to Jynx's left temple, which staggered him enough to make him retreat a few steps. Now it was Ike's turn to follow. And he did. He came in close, almost in Jynx's face, pummeling him with a flurry of punches coming fast and hard. “But when your opponent gets inside your personal space,” said his trainer. “You do not back up. You stand your ground, block and dodge, and wait for an opening to appear. It always does.” Jynx blocked and dodged most of them but took several hits to the face and ribs. The two bloodied and bruised antagonists stood toe-to-toe, fists and arms flying. Their breathing had been reduced to ragged gasps. Neither one of them was going to be able to stay on his feet much longer. Jynx also had to worry about the effect the cold was having on his naked body. He didn't stop to look, but he suspected his feet were a bloody mess too. “Sometimes,” said Jynx's trainer. “You change it up by doing something your opponent is not expecting and therefore is not prepared to defend against.” Jynx let his back leg sink low toward the ground as he leaned back, letting Ike's latest swing pass harmlessly over him. He watched closely as Ike brought his fists and arms back into a defensive position. Apparently he was a fast learner and was picking up some of Jynx's technique. But instead of coming back with fists, Jynx transferred all his weight to his back leg and slammed his forward leg into Ike's knee with a whiplash-like kick. He heard it crack. So did Ike. He froze. His face drained. Before he had time to register the pain of the broken knee joint, Jynx came up off his left leg and rammed the heel of his hand into the middle of Ike's face, shoving the nasal cartilage up into the man's brain, killing him instantly. After a few minutes Jynx cleaned himself up as best he could with snow, changed back into a hawk and flew back to the wagons. Nobody had noticed his absence. He never saw any reason to tell them about it.

[Valkyrie]

Jynx :

Experience
1 Escape Artist
3 Unarmed combat

Lore
The Irritation of a Clingy Woman
Transformation as a Means of Escape
Unarmed Combat: Getting into Your Opponent’s Personal Space
Unarmed Combat: Standing Your Ground in Close Proximity
Changing it Up to Take Your Opponent by Surprise

Other
N/A

Notes: This was a neat continuation. Poor Jynx, he tries to do the right thing and all he ends up with is a clingy woman and a late night surprise. I like how nonchalant Jynx is at the end when he returns to the wagon group. He seems to have a very unemotional response to killing that I find interesting. Please let me know if I missed anything you wanted! Sorry your lores are so lengthy, I tried to be as concise as I could.

You Will Be Collected if Worthy

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