1st Day of Fall, 513AV-15th Bell
The sun was high in the late afternoon sky but grunts and sounds of flesh hitting wood could be heard coming from the courtyard of the Iron Fist School. Savio had gotten home from work early that day and had found himself once again dressed in just his training shorts and nothing else. His chest and feet bare to allow better mobility, plus it was cooler that way. Off to the corner, his dagger, wooden gladius, and water bag sat in a haphazard pile.
Savio narrowed his eyes as he held is stance; his knees bend and his arms held in a fixed position in front of his face but his hands were left open and loose. He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet to keep moving, shifting himself from one place to another. He then struck out at the wooden dummy in front of him. A hard upward jab with the heel of his palm to where a nose should have been followed by a slight twist of his body and a shift of weight to swing his leg out to land a hard kick aimed at the manikin’s waist but missing the target location and hitting the hip instead.
He cursed quietly to himself as he slipped back into proper stance again to repeat the attack again, this time hitting the target location but at a slower rate. He needed to find a balance between speed and aim. He didn’t wish to compromise one for the other. They were both needed if he wished to fight Revy properly. He was not going to lose again. He refused to.
“Tavasi, please help me find the strength to not be bested again!” Savio breathed as he stuck out once more.
He repeated the motion over and over again until he was satisfied with the results. He was hitting his target location most of the time while still maintaining a decent strike speed. Since coming to Ximal’s school, he had found that he learned best through repetition and analyzing his motions. If he could pin point where exactly he was messing up at, he could fit it and move on. He found that his problem with this particular move was that he looked away for a tick right before he stuck, causing him to go wide and missing. Upon realizing his flaw, he forced himself to keep his eyes on his target and the almost ensured a hit in the place he wanted.
Savio stepped away from the dummy and looked it over, wondering where to strike next. He understood that he was not physically strong like Ximal or Revy, but rather he was fast and agile. He needed keep that in mind when he fought. Hobbling his enemy was his best bet. Knock them to the ground, disarm them, distract them… Those needed to be the fundamentals to the style of fighting he wanted to use.
If only he had a living partner to try out a few ideas on. The only other partner he could think of was Sayren WindDancer but she couldn’t help him train, even if she wanted to. Her foot still had not healed since their little trip into the Aperture. No… He should not think about that. That’s why he was training today. He needed a distraction. Savio dropped into stance once more and lunged at the dummy with a round house kick before following the motion, completing the turn while dropping to the ground and slinging his other leg out, while using the first leg to hold him up. He then knocked the “feet” out from under the dummy, causing it to fall to the ground. Savio then stood back up and eyed at the wooden body below him.
Sayren and Revy were most likely…Elsewhere. Savio shuttered in disgust at the thought of what that old woman was doing to poor Sayren. Even though the Drykas was still angry at him, Savio couldn’t help but still worry about her. Sometimes even leaving food or medicine by her bedroom door without her knowing it was him. Perhaps she assumed it was Revy, since she never came to Savio asking about it. That was fine as well. It was his fault she was hurt because he was weak and no amount of training was going to make him forget that he fell for a simple trick that almost ruined everything.
Savio took a deep breath as he lifted the dummy up so that it was standing up right once again. He already had it set in his mind that he was not going to fail so easily again. Ximal would have put a boot up his arse if he knew how weak Savio truly was. Not just physical but also mentally. He huffed in annoyance at the direction his thoughts were taking him. He needed to focus.
He looked over at his small pile of belongings and smiled slightly when he saw his Gladius. He walked over to it and picked up, holding it in his left hand and getting his arm adjusted to its weight. He carried it back over and lowered himself into the stance Bones has showed him. Savio narrowed his eyes slightly as he lunged forward at the dummy, aiming his attack at its wooden chest before turning his body to swing the sword to slash at the being’s stomach.
The sound of wood striking wood echoed throughout the court yard and it was a strangely satisfying sensation. Savio concentrated all of his anger, self-loathing, and anxiety into the maneuvers he practiced. Attack, dodge, attack again, block, dodge, and then attack once more. The bodily motions holding all of his attention and lulling him into a trance like state, easing him into a place that nothing else mattered outside of landing attacks on the dummy in front of him and breathing.
The Gods only knew how long Savio trained like that. By the time he finally pulled away and became aware of his surroundings, the sun was starting to set in the West and he was dripping with sweat. The young man’s breath was labored and his lung stung with each breath. Savio could feel his shoulders and arms burn from the strain and he knew that he was going to regret getting carried away like that in the morning. But he did not mind, because for a few moments he felt as though he was free from his transgressions. Perhaps that was selfish of him because Sayren could not get outside and do exercises like he did just then. She was hurt because of him and yet he rejoiced in his ability.
Savio groaned as he ran his fingers through his sweat soaked hair. Really, he needed to stop downing himself. It was neither healthy or productive but he could not help himself sometimes. Savio gathered his belongings and put away his Gladius before heading inside where it was safe for the evening. He needed a bath before going to sleep. If he could just focus on the smaller things, then maybe perhaps he could work up to sorting out the bigger problems. Yeah… He’ll stick to that strategy.
