Closed Pumped Up Kicks [Naeya]

[Nira'lia]

512 Winter 50th
Suvai Pavilion, Afternoon

The first floor of the pavilion housed the novices, and this is where Nira’lia found herself this day. Her eyes roamed across the red walls and the numerous duels. The first floor was wide and roomy, giving its students the space that they needed. Nira’lia stood by the walls and saw that many of them were wielding their suvai. She had one of those, but she had left it back at the inn—she had not thought of entering the pavilion until she had seen its magnificent establishment, and had not planned on training.

But now, looking at her sisters, Nira’lia was amazed. They were not the most skillful, but they more or less knew the basics to the art of fighting. She didn’t know it, but the first level of the pavilion was reserved for the amateurs. The combat was vigorous but graceful, their moves novice but focused. Consequently, Nira’lia, who did not know much about fighting, was very much impressed.

She thought of heading back to the inn to fetch her suvai. Smiling softly to herself, she pushed herself away from the wall and started to walk towards the door. As she walked, she noticed a few of her sisters speaking amongst themselves. They were pointing and observing, and the words ‘unarmed style’ caught Nira’lia’s ears. Glancing to the side, she saw that they were watching a pair of Konti who were fighting with their bare hands.

It wasn’t much, she had some experiences in that style of combat before—if it could indeed be called a ‘style’. The two Konti who were fighting seemed to have a more refined touch to it. The little knowledge she had about unarmed combat was vague.

“Hello!” she suddenly said to a girl beside her. It was one of her sisters, though she had never seen her before. “I would just like to inquire… if I would want to look for someone to practice with, who should I ask?”

The woman looked at her from head to toe. An interested but kind smile graced her lips. It was evident that Nira’lia was not from here. “What kind of duel would you want?”

Nira’lia pointed at the dueling women in front of them. “Unarmed,” she said simply. The young Konti was starting to get excited.

To her surprise, the woman she had asked suddenly called out in a loud voice, “Anyone willing to do an unarmed duel?”

[Naeya]

"Ommm..." Naeya hummed softly to herself in an effort to draw her mind's focus back to her meditation practice. It was her first time in the Suvai Pavilion, and she'd had the bright idea to meditate before training. The main floor of the pavilion had been near-empty when she'd entered, so she'd settled down cross-legged on a reed mat off to the right of the training circles. She'd closed her eyes and had taken several deep breaths to centre herself, imagining a white space filling her thoughts. Breathe in... breathe out... Relax... release... THWAP. Breathe in... breathe out... THWAP. Thwapthwap. No, don't you dare open your eyes. Breathe in... "Yah!" She'd opened one eye to peek out at the training room. Just in case we're being attacked, she'd assured herself. They weren't being attacked. It had simply been two of her sisters crouched in a training circle and sparring without weapons. Naeya had watched them curiously for a moment, impressed by the dangerous dance, before closing her eyes and beginning to hum. Five chimes later, she was still trying to block out the distraction. THWAP. "Ommmmm..." Naeya's humming became more urgent as she fought her instincts to peek out once more at the two konti. The white space in her mind had completely collapsed and was being filled instead with images of her own konti spar. She wasn't particularly adept at any form of unarmed combat (and if she were being truthful, the "unarmed" qualifier was hardly needed), but she was fascinated by the Muran style and hoped to find a partner who was willing to help her test it out. "Anyone willing to do an unarmed duel?" Her eyes flashed open and her meditation practice was promptly forgotten. Two konti stood near the entrance of the pavilion. One, a tall konti, seemed quite comfortable in the space, and Naeya guessed that she had been the one to put out the call. The other, a pretty konti girl who looked to be about Naeya's size and height, was waiting patiently beside her. "Me!" Naeya called out, scrambling to her feet. She had dressed entirely in white for this visit, having donned a cotton tunic and pants with the expectation of training, and her hair hung in a fishtail braid down the length of her back. It took her a few short steps to make her way over to the konti women, and she offered them each a warm smile upon reaching their side. "Me," she repeated, softer this time. "I'd like to do an unarmed duel." Her eyes lit on the smaller konti. "Hi! I'm Naeya. Which one of you was looking for a sparring partner?" She paused for a moment, waiting for a response before continuing on. "But I must warn you, I don't have much experience... Would that still be all right?"

[Nira'lia]

Nira’lia smiled at the lady who had decided she, too, wanted to duel. Not surprisingly, it was a Konti. She donned the typical features of her race. She had straight, pale blonde hair that framed her pretty face. As most of her kin were, the girl was beautiful and young-looking. Her name was Naeya, and her voice was collected and cheerful at the same time. Something about her name sparked something in Nira’lia, as if it was one she had heard in passing before—but she just couldn’t figure it out, and she brushed the thought to the back of her head almost immediately. “I don’t have much experience either… so that makes us even?” she said, with a nod and a sweet smile. When she heard that Naeya did not have much experience, she felt joyful, almost hopeful… this meant she actually had a chance, no matter how tiny. She just hoped that Naeya wasn’t just being polite. She paused for a while, not sure of what she was supposed to do next. The lady she had spoken to earlier, the one who had called out for an opponent for her, was looking between them in anticipation. They were being urged on. But how were they even supposed to start?” “I suppose we should start?” said Nira’lia awkwardly. She looked around at the various reed mats that signified where the fights were held. There was an empty one nearby. That would do. The young Konti looked down at her bare hands. There was first an obvious problem she needed to address first. Her gift would, no doubt, be triggered in an unarmed duel. What was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to just be truthful and set the problem aside immediately, by stating her issue and asking for a handshake? But wouldn’t that be rude, to explicitly tell someone that, ‘hey, let me see a private moment of your life so that it doesn’t catch me off-guard later on’? Naeya was a Konti, she would understand. But then again… she might not take it well. Probably the best way was to deal with this was to hide it, as per usual. It was a good thing that she had not introduced herself yet. “My name’s Nira’lia!” she said cheerfully as she offered an outstretched hand for a handshake. Once Naeya took it and her gift was triggered, it would be over. “Good luck to the both of us!”

[Naeya]

Naeya’s face brightened at the konti’s words. "That absolutely makes us even," she replied. The native Rivarian was hardly one to shy from a challenge, but sparring with a partner close to her own level allowed her to shift the focus from simple survival to real practice and improvement. As the konti woman paused, seemingly deep in thought, Naeya offered her an encouraging smile. The third konti had tilted her head and seemed to be on the verge of shooing them onto the training floor, but both she and Naeya remained quiet as they waited for Naeya's sparring partner to speak. When her sparring partner finally did speak up, her voice soft and sweet and reminiscent of lilacs in spring, Naeya nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's start!" she said, following the konti's gaze to the reed mats. She was about to take a step toward the nearest empty mat when the konti's next words, and the familiar tingle that snaked its way down her spine, made her stop in her tracks. The hair rose on her neck, and she turned her curious green eyes on her companion. Naeya's konti gift had been triggered. Nira’lia was leaving something unsaid... but what? "What a beautiful name," Naeya said after a moment's hesitation. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nira'lia." She reached out to firmly grasp her new acquaintance's hand. Her curiousity was distracted when she spotted Avalis' mark on the konti's right hand, and she grinned at the feeling of kinship that washed over her. As their skin touched, a window would open into Naeya's past and Nira'lia would be privy to the happiest moment in the konti's short life: Naeya sat curled up on the violet floor cushions decorating her family’s great room and melted into the bliss that warmed her heart. It was spring of 499 AV - the evening of her twenty-first birthday - and she was surrounded by those she loved most in the world. The room around her sparkled in the candlelight as she looked from face to face, quietly drinking in the moment. To her left sat her mother, a beautiful konti healer, and to her right sprawled Lurik, one of her three akalak brothers. Catching her mother's eye, she reached out to gently squeeze her hand. Her youngest brother, Behren, was just barely a child and tottered around the room energetically as he tried to capture his father's attention. His father - Naeya's father - was humourously pretending to ignore the small boy, and it was clear that Kogir had come out to play. Imass sat across the room from her, deep in conversation with Naeya's older akalak brother. This was a much younger Imass, only nineteen years of age and still free from his darker personality. Naeya watched them both for a moment, a small smile tugging at her lips. As if he could sense her stare, Imass glanced up to meet her eyes and grinned. Kobalt followed his gaze and made a sarcastic quip, prompting everyone in the room to break into laughter. Her heart was full. Naeya dropped her hand. “Good luck, sister,” she echoed, and made her way over to the reed mat. If Nira'lia joined her, Naeya would tighten her core and drop into a firm mountain stance. Her legs would be spread shoulder-width apart, one slightly ahead of the other, and her knees would be bent. She would tuck her elbows in, raising her hands so that the left protected her face and the right was in the rear, and would keep her eyes on Nira'lia's face in eager anticipation of the konti's first move.

[Nira'lia]

Nira’lia’s face instantly paled as she realized what she had just seen. She looked at the floor with a downcast stare as she meekly nodded at Naeya. “Good luck to you as well…” she said in a hushed tone. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen. Really, what were the chances? He had been younger but his features were distinguishable, and there was no question to it—this woman knew Imass! Not only did Naeya know him, but his presence had contributed to her most cherished memory. Feeling sick, Nira’lia clutched herself and followed Naeya to the reed mat. Nira’lia blamed Imass for a lot of things, but she also pitied him and was worried for him. At the same time, she wondered if Naeya actually knew what had happened to the Akalak. Standing a few feet away from Naeya, Nira’lia put on a defensive stance as well. Her knees felt weak because of what she had seen, but she decided to force the feeling aside. Even if she wasn’t the best fighter, she had been thought the basics of how to defend one’s self. Nira’lia would have put up her arms to defend as much as she could, however, to her horror, it appeared that Naeya expected her to make the first move. Fine, then… She put her left arm in front of herself to guard her torso, expecting Naeya to make a counter attack. Her first instinct was to use her other hand to take a swipe at Naeya, and she decided against this. Naeya had a stance that protected most of her upper body, that the most open target she could find were her legs. Nira’lia lunged forward and instead decided to give a sideward kick with her right leg. Judging from the angle, it was targeted towards the outer side of her left knee.