[Verlyna's Emerald Pond] A Lesson In Pain {Pain}

[Sesha]

Sesha could hear the woman perch nearby, looking up only when the other spoke; the earlier noted accent softened had somewhat. She deserved to be chastised. It was not the way of a thief to put oneself in harm’s way on purpose, and Sesha had done just that. She’d invited this thrashing upon herself. The burning ache of her body would serve as an important lesson, regardless of what her newfound tutor might impart. Gazing at her hands as the lecture continued, Sesha had to concede that her attacker was right. Her multicolored nails were quite long given the current Alvadan fashion and she had never truly considered them as anything more than an artful accessory. She turned her palms up and flexed so that the heel shone brighter on her already light skin. She brought them together firmly, feeling the force of her forearms directly opposed to one another. With a strike like this there would be no worry of breaking her wrist. She also noted that her fingers now looked like claws and considered their application to all that she was hearing. As the seated expert began to discuss bows and crossbows Sesha became confused. It showed on her face, but realization melted the stern look away and understanding bloomed in her. She had been taught on the streets that it was best to seem imposing as a means of intimidating the enemy into a sense of inferiority. Obviously it hadn’t worked for her. Sesha could be mean when necessary, but words could only cut the heart, not the flesh. Explosive maneuvers were not something she’d been taught in her youth. Power and not speed was the mantra her father’s scruffy militia had intoned, often while ogling her hungrily. Sesha nodded as her mentor finished. No wasted movements, she repeated inwardly. It was the code of thieves as much fighters obviously. Waste was a byproduct of arrogance. The combatant had not given a hairline of warning before striking Sesha. What had made the pickpocket feel that she would easily win had instead been turned on her to make her look the fool. “Can you tell me more as we walk?” she asked, a notable tone of deference coming to her voice. Sesha was not one to be burned twice. “I am De… I am Sesha,” she said, choosing to offer this woman her true name, if only because she’d chosen mercy over further violence.

[Elhaym]

"I'm Elhaym." Pain said simply after hearing Sesha's introduction. She bit her lip as her eyes wandered over Sesha's dejected form, contemplating the reason why she had not used her alias. "A lot of people call me Pain, kind of a long story... a story I intend to finish soon." Pain stood fully, stretching her legs and walking to retrieve her discarded coat. As she slipped the furry garmant back over her arms, she retraced her steps back to Sesha's position and extended her hand. "I'll tell you more, just remember to check yourself." Pain said, meeting Sesha's gaze with a look that could have been concern. As Sesha rose, Pain gestured for her to lead the way. She was thoroughly uninterested in wandering around this cursed city and it's trickster streets any longer. As they walked, Pain began to explain some of the basic principles of her craft. "I know a lot of people who think they can fight. They like to toy with their opponents, especially if they're fightin' in a ring. Back in Syliras, there was this place called the Spinning Coin. You'd have guys there that would string a fight out for the crowd. That's okay when it's for show. In a real fight, you never do that." Pain said from behind Sesha. She kept her eyes on the woman's shoulders as they walked. She trusted her sense of sight as about as far as she could throw it at this point, and preferred to focus on her guide rather than her surroundings. "You string a fight out, you get tired, and you make mistakes. Whenever you're fighting someone, it should be because you're defending yourself or they've done something to warrant you trying to kill them. You want to take them down fast, and hard." Pain stopped her stride, hinting for Sesha to turn and face her by clearing her throat. Pain pointed towards her own face, denoting the areas of the body she spoke of as she listed them off. "Side of the head, nose, jaw. That's when you're aiming for the head. When i'm throwing a punch, I don't like to aim for the center of the chest or the throat... it's too easy for someone to counter those attacks for my taste, plus a good opponent can get a hold of you if your arm is right there in between both of theres. I like to attack from the sides, from above, or from underneath if it's possible." Pain said, noting the position underneath the armpits that exposed the brittle floating ribs of the humanoid body. "Plus, if you get really close to someone, don't forget about these." Pain said, bending her arm and pointing toward her elbow. Had she not been wearing her thick coat, Sesha would have seen a larhe accumulation of scar tissue on the joint; a byproduct of both her training and actually striking others with her most deadly weapon. "You got a taste earlier. Your knees and elbows are like clubs. You can end a fight like that with a good elbow or knee strike." Pain said, snapping her fingers to accentuate 'that'. "Try it." Pain commanded, lifting up both of her arms and opening her hands up to expose her palms. She nodded at Sesha to strike at her, utilizing both her advice of using her palms instead of her knuckles, and perhaps to attempt to hit her with an elbow strike. "Go slow at first, get used to the way it feels. Using your palms is different than a closed fist. See what you can do... and when you get comfortable, let it all out. Try the knees and elbows thing too, you need to get used to the distance you need to be from someone for it work." OOCYou can practice your hits on Pain by striking at her hands, like a boxing coach. You can RP Pain blocking the attacks so you can describe doing several in succession without having to have me react to each attack.

[Sesha]

Sesha could not contain a smirk as the woman offered her alias. Pain. It was a name she quite liked, and a feeling that coursed through her aching body even now. She took Elhaym’s hand and was surprised again at the stout woman’s strength, lifting her easily from the hard earth. As Sesha retrieved her things she took stock of her injuries. Nothing that some bed rest wouldn’t cure, though the pickpocket would likely avoid the streets for a few days and possibly visit Arrhizal’s for some herb or another. She did not like the idea of seeing Apothecary Shenter again, but the exchange couldn’t be avoided, he was the best at what he did. Kirwen was a well known enemy of Ionu, a drab man with little spark left in his soul. Perhaps she would pick up a pretty plant for her flat as well. Pain’s words snapped her back to reality, to their brief exchange and all the lessons she had learned. Sesha allowed herself to be distracted by the woman as they walked. Whenever they would come too close to an illusory obstacle Sesha would simply walk through it. Thorny vines, multicolored wildfires, even mystical beasts attempting to garner their attention through intimidation or spectral lights, all of it melted away as Sesha thought only of her destination and her tutor’s advice. The trick with Alvadas was to know in your heart where you intended to go and walk a relatively straight line. You couldn’t trust your eyes or your ears; even one’s sense of balance could play tricks on them, leading someone uphill when they’d intended to go down and visa versa. Pain was likely headed for the Cubacious Inn, the only inn in The City not riddled with kelvics and dhani. Sesha let her heart guide her though; honed intuition could prove invaluable where instinctual impulse would quickly lead one to folly. Sesha nodded as the woman denoted key points to strike and how to strike them. She aimed a heeled palm at Elhaym’s nose, hoping for a quick and satisfying blow, but it was batted away ineffectually. Regaining her composure Sesha altered her stance, striking with her palms was slightly different and would require a wider and lower stance if she intended to lay any blows on her teacher. With her left foot sliding forward Sesha struck in quick succession with both palms aimed at the jaw, lowering her body to the left and heaving upward with an elbow to Pain’s right and her exposed ribs. The move wasn’t exactly as explosive as her Master’s, but Sesha had come much closer to landing a blow than before. A smile blossomed on her face. “What about kicks?” she asked when she’d righted herself, taking the chance to land two more ineffectual blows. Sesha felt lighter on her feet. Striking like this made her feel like she might have a chance in future battles. She longed to lash out more violently, but lost her balance when the woman would sidestep instead of blocking. It was frustrating, but also kind of fun.

[Elhaym]

Pain appreciated the renewed vigor in which Sesha strikes came, though the new form seemed to heighten her ability to strike quite a bit. More than once, Pain had a close call in batting away her strikes. She had a feeling Sesha would have more than a few successes using those techniques. They stopped momentarily as Pain pondered an answer to Sesha's inquiry about kicking. It served as a good distraction from the ridiculous nature of Alvadas. It was to Sesha's benefit that Pain needed the distraction, in any case. "Using your legs is a lot harder than your arms. Women naturally have stronger lower bodies though, so you'd do good to learn to use em'." Pain took a few steps back from Sesha, raising her hands up to guard her face and assuming her fighting stance. "If you're gonna kick, don't just lash out. Like I said earlier, I don't like attacking straight forward if I can help it. This is why." Pain raised her right leg, bending it at the knee and lashing out quickly as if she were jamming her heel into an imaginary target's kneecap. Yet the folly of the movement became apparent when Pain's leg went through the total motion, impacting the ground in front of her and sending her entire body into a forward stumbling motion. After righting herself, Pain gestured to Sesha with her hands. "Oh, if something like that hits them, they're knee is shot. If they dodge, you'll be stumbling forward like an idiot and probably get knocked out straight away. That's what would usually happen, anyway." Pain assumed her stance again, hopping light from foot to foot as she began what she considered a proper kick. Since her left foot was leading, Pain threw her right leg forward in a quick motion. Her entire body was involved in the attack, from her swiveling hips to her right arm being thrown back to increase the power of her strike. The kick came from the side, and would have smashed into the side of the invisible target's knee. Pain's body spun as her kick impacted naught but air, and she gracefully completed the circle and returned to her fighting stance in one fluid motion. "You attack from the side, like that. Hit them with the lower part of your shin around their knee, and the effect is just as good. Plus like you saw, if you miss you just spin back into your stance real quick. Trust me though, unless you practice this a lot on something hard, it's gonna petchin' hurt your shins when you hit them. In a real fight you won't notice so much, but you'll get some nasty bruises. In any case... I wouldn't bother with too much more than that for a kick, really. Using your legs can end a fight quick, but if you try to take someone's head off without a lot of experience under your belt you'll end up on the ground. I learned that the hard way myself." Pain nodded thoughtfully, content that Sesha could make good use of her imparted knowledge. There wasn't much else to tell in all honesty. Pain didn't want to go into advanced techniques. A novice who stuck with the basics could still be effective, even if a bit predictable. "So, uh... how much longer? My dog's probably about to piss all over my room."

[Puzzle]

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Thread Complete! "What a well made thread we have here." Thread Review - Why Can't We Be Friends? Ah Elhaym and Sesha - it was bound to clash. Very very cute read. I hope they travel more together in the future. Notes: Elhaym, is there any way you can lower the lengths of your frames? It's difficult reading the full post because those of us with crappy resolutions can't get it to show up! Thanks! Sesha   Skills Coercion +3 Acrobatics +5 Intimidation + 2 Unarmed Combat + 5 Observation + 5 (Base skill)   Lore Puffer Jay: How to Appear More Bad Ass Than you Really Are   Ledger -1 gm for leather pants and gauntlets (Matching Leathers)   Reward Elhaym   Skills Acrobatics + 5 Unarmed Combat: + 3 Observation + 5   Lore Brook no Insult: Your character is weak against the temptation of fighting.   Ledger -1 gm for Food.   Reward A travelling companion.