Show Me Your Moves (Apos)

[Ximal]

As Xi landed on the ground or more or less put his foot back down he flicked his eye's over to a skidded apos. only to see a shuriken flying back his way. Xi dodged his head to the side thinking it would hit there but no it seared past and cut a shallow slice along is right arm just beneath the shoulder. Tearing fabric and slightly slicing flesh, a small trickle of blood rolled down his arm. Xi flicked his eyes over too it. Smirking he turned his head back. "Ok i'll rememberer you have those in future." Xi smiled and started to walk back towards him seeing the red welt starting to turn black slowly. That would bruise and it would not be a nice one. Subconsciously pressing a hand on his stomach at the sight, in rememberence of the horse kick he received. Xi then rose his hands up and pressed a fist into his palm cracking all four knuckles at the same time. Now he was not going to hold back. He'd keep to just his legs but, his slowed pace to assess apos' strength was over and he'd paid with almost two hits and a definite cut. Xi closed the gap at the same speed as apos, Xi watched apos rach a hand behind his head and kept his eye's on the shoulders he saw one arm move as if throwing a shuriken his mind reacted by bringing up his left arm to block it and then he took his sight at apos's spare arm. snapping his hand out to grab hold of apos' wrist about a half inch before the blade tip punctured his stomach. "Ok: One, those things are not nice, and two that my stomach just healed. So i cant afford to take much more damage there." Xi smirked and snapped his other steel coated hand out to grab hold of apos' other arm, he hadn't broken what he said because all they were doing was blocking and aiding hin his leg strikes. Xi then gave his arms a heavy tug and brtought his knee up like an anvil. at this close a range and a double armed grip on apos' wrists Tis knee was going to hurt. However still held back on power wanting to wind him but not floor him. This was a spar, not a fight. After the initial knee strike Xi released apos's arms and then switched leg using his body weight to jump and twist smashing his knee into the side of apos' abdomen across his liver knocking him to the side. Both strikes were at only a fraction of what they could do power wise but that was still a lot of force. Xi then felt the stinging drop of blood roll down his arm slowly. Those shuriken were nasty, however...He wasn't getting hit by one again...

[Apos]

As Apos ran to meet Ximal he watched the shuriken as it whizzed past him and implanted itself in the tree behind him. Apos knew the small weapon got close enough to cut him, but it couldn't have went very deep. Apos thought he caught some of what Ximal said and smirked in response. Apos is so easy to be drawn into serious fights during spars because of their nature, but he wouldn't example such foolishness today. Step by step, Apos is closer to keeping his emotions in check despite containing the clashing ideals of Myri and Akajia in his mind. As the two warriors clashed, Apos looked down to see Ximal stop his blade in place by holding him at the wrist. Apos listened as Ximal commented on Apos' choice of weapon and target areas and Apos slightly bowed his head whilst making an understanding expression as if to say he understood. Realizing Ximal was going to grab his other wrist and initiate in a grapple, Apos tightened the grip on his ulaks, bent at the knees to lower his posture, and spread his feet apart to widen his base. When Ximal pulled Apos' arm down he braced himself, using his own natural strength to help slow the pull and slam his left leg up to deflect Ximal's. Apos could feel the adrenaline like surge in his leg as his gnosis mark lent' him the strength needed during that attack to create enough force to keep Ximal's stone-like knee from disabling Apos' own joint. The impact between the quick contact shook Apos' entire leg as he lowered it back down to the ground. Apos thought himself matching his opponent, but was outmaneuvered by the second attack as he wasn't fast enough to react to Ximal's impending strike to his side. Apos braced for the strike and once it connected he grunted aloud but took the blow. Deciding he didn't want to take the time to asses how much damage the blow did Apos twisted his wrists and yanked them out of Ximal's clutches before grabbing the top of his forearms and pulling them towards himself. As Apos performed the pull he felt the strain it put on his arm and grit his teeth in response. Despite the pain, and all the other distractions he could stop to give his attention to, he never took his eyes off of Ximal as he jumped up to ram his knee into Ximal's sternum, intending to be the stopping force to their colliding momentum.

[Ximal]

Xi watched apos fly after the knee to his side but apos' response was much faster and much sharper than Xi has anticipated. apos instead of flying shifted around his grip to no be the one holding onto Xi'a arms and began to twist his own body weight into an attack launching himself from the ground Xi saw he knee flying towards his chest. And there was nothing he could really do to stop it however he'd let this hit and respond with the finisher of an attack. Xi felt the knee connect, sharp and hard but not hard enough o break anything. Xi twisted his own arms then out of apos' grip and pulled himself back. Taking a half second to assess the damage...Pain but no major damage...Good. Xi rose back up from his slightly knelt position before scanning through his arsenal of attacks...There was that one but he hadn't fully mastered it yet...Xi shook his head and brought his arms up to help with his balance and stance. XI took a deep breath and spoke slowly to focus his mind and make sure he could get this off as fast as possible as well as really spook apos."To freeze all things...Ice blue." Xi brought himself closer with a step before swinging his left leg up and at apos's right arm. As the blow connected Xi rolled all of his upper torso, and then used the momentum stored in his other leg to spring board off of the ground and deliver a vicious launching kick to apos' shoulder. Not hitting with his foot for either kick but the hard bone of his shin which was also coated in steel. As the kick went up Xi's body followed through and let him spin in mid air before landing in a crouch. It was a difficult move but if it hit it more or less disabled both arms. If one didn't catch him the second would catch him by surprise.

[Apos]

Apos curled his lips into his mouth and lightly bit down on them as his knee made contact with Ximal's chest. He didn't feel anything reposition or snap, he blinked in good spirit of keeping the spar friendly. After the hit, Ximal mouthed an odd statement about freezing everything and for a moment Apos thought him to have learned some type of magic involving ice. The Myrian startled a bit took a step back from Ximal, and waited to see what would happen. Instead of any Reimancy being used however, Apos saw Ximal snap his leg up for a kick. Apos, though unwise, didn't have the acrobatic affinity to perform the evasive technique he'd just formulated in his mind, so instead raised his right forearm to level with his bicep. Apos leaned and pushed his bowed arm out to help with absorbing the attack but the metal lining Ximal's leg conspired to undermine Apos' attempt at softening the blow. Apos didn't hear nor feel a bone break, but he knew almost immediately after the kick had been delivered that his would be the end of the spar. The kick caused Apos to stumble in the opposite direction, but his eyes never left Xi as the second kick came. From Apos' point of view the kick looked to be aimed at the same spot he'd suffered a monster-of-a kick earlier, so this combined with the pain of not being able to lift it already forced Apos stomp his left foot to the ground to stop his stumbling momentum. He leaned to his right, out of the way of the kick, listened as Ximal's large leg whooshed through the air. His unmatched speed and strength and obvious experience with spar's all came together in Apos' mind to form the realization that he simply couldn't keep up with his old comrade this day. He slouched a bit as he clutched his much more damaged left arm and gave a sly smirk as the pleased expression on his face worked to convey his emotions much more effectively than Apos' following remarks would entail. "I'm afraid if you get any stronger I'd have to advise you to be a lumber jack rather than a warrior, my friend! Heh.." Apos' teeth shone a bit during his chuckle as he rolled his shoulders and checked his clothing to see if Ximal had bled more during the last exchange than he'd though. To Apos' relief, he didn't see any.

[Ximal]

XI landed back upon his feet after the onslaught of kicks, normally these were strong enough to smash wooden planks with ease but Xi watched apos block one and dodge the other before Xi himself had landed. Xi rolled his shoulder before remembering the cut across his arm. the bleeding had stopped it had broken the skin with a small tear but noting too major it had already begun to heal. Still it looked as if both Xi himself and apos had gaind an injury on the same side Though the joke came from apos Xi just smirked back before replying. "Eh i'm not that strong...Not by a long shot...No they'll always be people stronger than me so i need to get to the point where i can at least give them a challenge. Else, i'm doing them and myself an injustice." Xi smirked and offered his left hand as a gesture of good faith and a friendly show that he'd done well. "Well it shows my raining paid off at least. Before the excursion from the spires i probably would have a lot more damage than just this little scrape here. Having said that hows your arm ? I didn't break it did i ? Regardless either way once your in the city i'd head to the infirmary...Get it looked at...I'll just bandage this ting here up and it'll heal by it'self."

[Apos]

Apos shook Ximal's left wrist and returned his hand back to his side as he continued to listen to Ximal. His training did indeed pay off, serving as testaments to Apos' bruises."Nah, its not broken." An honest statement. "I'll pass on the infirmary. I've healed from some pretty nasty injuries during my travels, so I'll sleep it off eventually." The underlying reason was the amount of Nykan's he wanted seeing his face. If Nyka hated Myrians as much as Ximal suggested, Apos would need to keep an extremely low profile here. The less interactions the better. This didn't create fear however, Apos would just have to manage his anonymity more exclusively in this city. Remembering his weapon in the tree Apos moved to retrieve it. He only had so many, so he made sure to retrieve them whenever he were in comfortable enough situations to recover his shurikens. He took his time and walked to the tree, rubbing the bruise on his left arm as he did so. Apos reached out with his right arm and grabbed the centerpiece of the shuriken to ensure a safe removal. Mishandling the small bladed weapons could be hazardous if done incorrectly. After he removed it he slid it into its sheath woven amongst his belt and looked up to Ximal."Nasty little things, eh?"

[Ximal]

Xi was still slightly concerned about apos' arm after all he was wondering if his kick had shattered it. still if apos thought he could survive without the infirmary that was his choice Xi wouldn't pursue it given the fact that apos was probably doing it to help disguise his heritage. Xi just nodded with a small grin. It was fair knowledge that he didn't give himself a reason to break. Still as aos made a move to motion past Xi to retrieve his throwing weapon that reminded Xi of his own injury. Flicking his eye's down at it it has sheared the skin below the shirt line so he was thankful for that much. Lifting a hand he tugged his gauntlet off before testing it with his fingers only running his hand over the cut lightly, it wasn't deep as he thought but it was bugging him though as apos spoke Xi smirked and offered a reply. "They are nasty little things, though having said that...They are also impossibly hard to see, i only narrowly avoided that one else the damage could have been a lot worse and you'd be pulling that out of my shoulder rather than that wood." Xi sighed slightly and tucked his other gauntlet back on. before reaching for his cloak. "Well it seems as if you haven't lost any of your speed or power at the very least. I'd say you've had a chance to improve more. Or perhaps for the first time you've had to actually try to fight me with your full strength ?" Xi couldn't help but smirk, he wasn't being over confidant but more trying to gauge apos' skill level through more than just words but trying to read his face as well. He'd evidently spent by far too much time with Zandelia.

[Apos]

Apos thought about the intricate cuts weaved into the arms of the throwing start he'd simply called a shuriken and the small bit of dried blood he'd seen on two tips of the star. Ximal nailed the usage of the weapon perfectly. Apos banked on their smallness to hide their use. Two to three stars to a man's torso could be end his lifespan in that moment, and if it didn't he'd pass out from the pain of trying to pry open the skin to dig it out. Apos wasn't as skilled with the small weapons as he'd liked to be, but at close range he could seriously wound an unwary victim. "Fighting at full strength in a spar is hard as hell for me." He said trying to rub the pain out of his arm with his right hand, but touching it made it much worse than before. So he left it be. He'd have to sleep it off, though that could take a couple weeks. "Despite what I showed you today, my fighting style revolves heavily around throat slashing and ranged weapons." Apos simply wasn't conditioned for duels, whether they were spars or actual fights. His mindset in the midst of battle was to end it as quickly as possible, or flee.

[Ximal]

Xi checked his arm to find the blood had stopped flowing and it was already beginning to clot. Good. He'd hate to have a debilitation like that later on in the season. What with the extra things coming, and gregor's "unknown monster". Xi shook his head and tried to banish the thoughts from his mind. Until he saw the actual thing he'd keep it to the back of his mind. Still listening to apos was more revealing than anything else. Fighting full strength was difficult for him? well gauging from the cut that he'd given Xi across his arm...He'd say it wasn't that difficult. From apos' continued explanation Xi gleamed well that, apos' style was defiantly based upon slashing people open as fast as possible. Xi himself though was more akin to beating them to a point where the couldn't fight back and then leaving them be. Xi gave apos a small nod as he finished explaining his preferred style of fighting. "In sunberth I'd be liable to agree with you, but out here...That's more liable to get you stabbed than anything else. The monks are a little touchy, so it pays to practice dealing with people without dealing with people, if you know what i mean." Xi gave apos a sideways glance that should probably tell him all he needed to know. Xi rolled his free shoulder and reclaimed his cloak from the ground swirling it around his shoulders...He'd had this cloak back from the time in sunberth...He'd despised that place but he wouldn't let it take precedence over anything now. Hew as here not too far away from it but he could feel it's effects still resonating throughout him. He was gaining more of his true nature back. More of his wonder more of his doubt his anger... Definitely his anger. Xi shook his head and flexed his fingers. and inclined his head. "Right lead on to your camp with the two of us on the way there you should be able to get into the city before night fall.

[Apos]

Apos' jaw clenched as Ximal mentioned the Monks again. He had yet to encounter one and he didn't know much more about them than what Ximal has already told him but Apos had already come to the conclusion that he didn't like them or anything about their doings. They held a century old grudge against a new generation of Myrians, each surpassing those before them. Apos wondered how he'd fare against one, but his instincts told him to avoid them alltogether. Should the fight not end as quickly as possible, the attention such a clash could draw would end in the Myrian's defeat. Apos relaxed his face as he looked to Ximal's arm and noticed the bleeding had stopped. He nodded with a motion as if to agree with Ximal's advice on dealing with the Monks of the city and took them to heart. He'd often pondered on whom the enemy of the Myrians were and he didn't think that...monks would be on the list. The name itself was a lot less threatening than the rumors he'd heard surrounding their presence in the city, but Apos wouldn't be subject to the stupidity of underestimating an opponent.

There were very few people Apos could trust, and even fewer he would actually consider taking advice from so Ximal, along with Ana, Zandelia, Banir, and Razkar were apart of a circle that would probably never seen an expansion in Apos' social life. Others he'd come in contact with were given a fake name or no attention at all. "Yeah, I only have a few things to retrieve but they are detrimental to my travels." The remaining tools of his arsenal were there, along with clothing, his sleeping mat and a number of other things most travelers needed to venture across the terrains of Mizahar.

Apos' baritone voice let out as he rubbed some more pain out of his shoulder. He turned and waited for Ximal to reach his side before walking into the direction of the camp. He thought to make small talk along the way, but even with Apos familiarity with Ximal he simply couldn't muster anything interesting to talk about. Apos was mostly a man of few words, unless adressed so he'd hope Ximal wouldn't take offense to the silence. After a few minutes of walking however, a question sprang into his mind that he had interest in hearing an answer from Ximal about.

"What are you thoughts about the Crimson Edge's falling apart?"