[Avain Manor] Time Standing (Miro)

[Kinneas]

Fall 23rd, 511 AV

The manor was quiet today. The quiet always greeting him when he woke up, the sun still not showing itself going for a few extra minutes of rest before breaking the darkness with early dawn light, it was this time which Kinne would put the most use. It was this time he would use to find his balance for the day and get a little extra training in before anyone would wake.

Being mindful of the people sleeping in the house the man rose from his bed and slipped on the loose fitting tan pants and ties back his hair, carefully putting it back over his shoulders and pinning it in place with a single piece of string. That done he proceeded to the door which led to the courtyard, yes; this was the perfect time to train. Smiling he lumbered to the center of the yard, the grass wet with dew, and the chilly wind greeting, nipping, at his flesh. Well what grass that was present wasn’t the best, but it still was soft enough. The place still loomed in the shadow of the events that happened ten years ago. The patches of grass that mingled in the cold, hard ground brought the hope of renewal, and it was Kinnes hope to restore this place to its former glory and beyond. Finding a nice spot he looked up at the sky and grinned, what a beautiful time it was, the time right before the dawn of a new day. The sky painted with the many colors of the rising sun. It was about time to wake up.

Getting comfortable in the grass, weedy or not grass was grass, and closed his eyes. He counted his breaths, in and out, one, in and out, two, in and out three, in and out, four, in and out, five. Gradually as he counted he focused on slowing his breath, slowing his heart and trying to still his mind. The thoughts, as he focused more inwardly, seeming like a storm or a swarm of buzzing bees, relentless in their assault of his concentration on nothing, on emptiness, on just being. Random thoughts such as wondering what Miro is dreaming about, or even thoughts on his own looks cropped up. Even the silly little things that he didn’t think about such as random itches bothering him, but he did not reach to scratch, that would be like giving into a spoiled child’s cries for candy. Once you give in they will ask for more and more. No, Kinne wasn’t going to do that. The best way to combat an annoying child, as he has learned through much experience with one, was to ignore it and eventually they would give up. So, he began to use that practice with all the thoughts that were coming to him when he was trying to be empty and find peace. With each breath he tried to let the thought go and ignore it…

In and out, one hundred and fifty-five, in and out, fifty-six, in and out, fifty-seven, in and out, fifty-eight… Still struggling with the thoughts coming to him this was whole process was taking longer than he would have liked. Each deep breath banishing another inkling of a muse that would creep up, but judging that it is good enough he would begin the real training for the day. Slowly he tapped into his evantia mark, the aura spreading around like some invisible cloak that extended his senses. After it was fully extended he felt all the subtle movements within, the grass being swayed with the wind, the ants and other such bugs moving about on the ground below.

[Miro]

Running, running, running. All he could do was run. The fire burned him, all over his body, but no matter how fast he ran he could not escape it. Producing res was impossible. It was as if his djed was locked away or had bled out long ago. The longer he waited the hotter he became until, THUD. Miro opened his eyes. His face and chest were planted on the cold hard floor of the common area while the rest of his body remained on the couch. The cool floor felt refreshing and calming to him, taking away the shock of heat. Sweat was gathered in his clothing, a side effect of being so hot. He must have fallen asleep in his clothing on the couch. He didn't quite remember why he was there, or even being that tired. Sure enough though it had happened, and the heat gathered caused a horrid nightmare.

Miro picked himself up off of the floor and rung out any kinks. He ran a hand through his messy hair, brushing it back out of his face before yawning. The room was cool, but Miro was hot. Outside was bound to be nice and cold, providing a much needing refreshment to him. He wandered out into the courtyard, still messing his hair into place. He wandered out towards the center, eyes still fixed upwards trying to view an impossible sight. Slowly he headed towards Kinneas playing with his tangled locks. He did not know anybody was awake, nor did he care to think about such things when such an annoying thing like his hair still needed fixing. So onward he went. If anything was in his way it was their fault for being there. The cool breeze only frustrated him more, though it did cool him off enough that the thought of heat had been forgotten.

[Kinneas]

Three hundred and twenty one, in and out, three hundred and twenty two, in and out, three hundred and twenty three, in and out, three hundred and twenty four, the thoughts that interrupted him so viciously before were quelling down. The movements of the life around becoming more the center of what he was concentrating on, and with that heightened sensitivity to what was around him that demanded more concentration on the emptiness of the mind. It demanded more focus and even greater discipline for without it the meditation would fail. He needed to learn to block out the unimportant movements of the things around him and focus on what was important. Now, in a situation like this, the training was simple. Just to get use to actually sensing and interpreting what was around him by the movements. He was easing into the harder part of his training, that was for sure, but even the greatest athletes stretched before running a race.

His concentration almost perfectly on the evantia aura around him, six hundred and ten, six hundred and eleven, six hundred and twelve, he could feel everything perfectly in the sphere of his enhanced sense. The data bombarding him and leaving his brain to sort out the mess. Then something unexpected happened. Another entered the evantia. Feeling the movements Kinne snapped out of his meditation, taking a moment to gather himself before looking in the direction at which his senses told him the intruder had entered. It was Miro. He didn’t think anyone else was up, but something looked off about him. His clothes were damp with sweat and he was messing with his hair. Had something happened?

The kid seemingly unaware of Kinnes presence was still walking straight for him, would he move around, no… No he wouldn’t, or at least it didn’t feel that way. Hurrying to get up he jumped to his feet and smiled at Miro as the kid continued to walk for him. Unsure of what to do he stepped towards his best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, ”Good morning, Miro.” Kinne greeted him, ”Having a bad hair troubles? he laughed using his other hand to try to help out Miro in his sorting out of the messy hair that seemed to bug the kid.

[Miro]

Miro kept walking until an exciting surprise greeted him. Kinneas stopped Miro in his tracks, leaving him speechless for a moment and quite frightened. His eyes flashed orange for just a moment before returning to his normal purple color. Miro was satisfied with his hair and was now wondering what was with Kinneas. It was as if something changed with him. He felt...different. He seemed to be determined like he had been before. Perhaps he found his heart again. They would take this city back by force, restore their home and prove themselves masters of the city. They had a lot of work to do, a lot of growing to do. Miro had some goals from long ago that he had been longing to achieve. Kinneas was excellent in close quarters combat. Miro was always beaten by him, it was maddening! Never once, even when the odds were in Miro's favor had he beaten Kinneas, or even come close. His eyes flashed an icy blue. His heart ached with the desire to win. Kinneas would know exactly what the look on his face meant. He knew that Kinneas was in the zone as far as fighting goes. How perfect a set up. Miro was going to fight him, and Kinneas would have nothing to complain about except for how hard he was hit. "Kinneas, we are fighting. Get ready, I won't hold back on you. Do not complain when I hurt you." Miro took a defensive stance exciting his djed in his body. He pulled his djed flux into his right arm. He would use the Flux to give him an early advantage and upset the balance in his favor. If he needed it he had reimancy to augment his fighting style as well. Kinneas was going to have a glorious fall from grace. Soon Miro would stand above him in triumph.

[Kinneas]

Kinne smiled as he continued to mess with the kids hair. Even when Miro seemed continent with how it looked Kinne thought it could use a swipe here and there. When he was done he stepped back and crossed his arms, eyes looking at Miro and judging how he looked. Perfect, or as good as he was going to get for now. The smile faded as he watched the kid his very presence bringing back memories of when they first met and all they have been though, not only that, but it reminded him how fast time passes and how Miro grew up.

Seeing the look on the kids face Kinne knew what was coming up next so what he said hardly surprised him. ”Fight? he asked as he watched the kid prepare himself. He had not spared against Miro in a while and so this was going to be interesting. His evantia still up he felt Miro’s movements and the intent within. Since the kid was only one person he could focus entirely on him and what he was going to do. Kinne had an advantage, he was not only more skilled, to the best of his knowledge, than Miro at hand to hand combat, but he also had his gnosis. How could he not win. Arms still crossed he smiled at him, ”Fine. If it is a fight you want it is a fight you will get, but remember Miro you asked for it.” he laughed at him. He really wasn’t going to hurt him. No, he couldn’t hurt him that bad, ”But,” he paused, ”We are going to wear the padded armor.” he told him having the kids safety in mind. He really did not want to hurt his best friend, his brother.

With that stated he walked over to where the padded armor was, it sitting along one side of the courtyard by the training dummies, and collected two sets. One for him and one for Miro. Walking back he tossed it at him donning one of the padded armor’s for himself. Once it was on he waited for Miro to put his on. Once that was accomplished he took a more offensive stance, ”Ready Miro?’ he asked as he took a step towards him.

[Miro]

Kinneas was going to humor him with a fight, but they would need to wear armor. The padded armor would cushion the blows, making things a bit safer, but it would not change the fact that Kinneas would lose this fight. It would only take away the trophy bruises. Oh well, it a request Miro would honor. It surprised him how much he longed to shed the blood of his most dear friend. But he had his mind set, and he would not settle for a loss now. He took his armor and put it on. Kinneas moved towards him slowly, but that would not be Miro's approach. He ran towards him at full speed. Once he got close he dipped left and gathered his djed into his right arm. He pulled from every inch of his body and forced his djed to pack in hard. He unleashed a flurry of fists towards Kinneas as fast as he could let his arm carry the orders. He would let out ten or fifteen concurrent punches at an enhanced strength aimed for Kinneas' torso. The frenzy would be anything but accurate and controlled, but hopefully it would get the job done.

[Kinneas]

Kinne smiled as Miro put on the armor wondering how it felt with the sweat matted clothes the kid already had on. Taking another step towards him but then the boy ran towards him at full force. Game on. Kinne readied himself for the onslaught of attacks, the aura around him allowing him to feel not only the movements but the intent of the attacks. Attacks. More than one. More than one, more than one. With that knowledge in mind he opened his hands ready to try to redirect the attacks that were going to come at him. If he were to come on the defensive eventually Miro would wear himself out.

As he expected the boy launched more than one attack. Kinnes hands move to block and redirect them, but he only, in the end, was successful half the time. The rest of the flurry of punches hit Kinne in the chest, each successful strike prompting Kinne to block the next attack as quickly as possible. It seemed even though the kids attack was wild and unfocused it still held some merit because a person can see something coming, feel something coming, but they cannot always stop it. Therefore about half the attacks hit. If the kid would have put a little more thought and precision into the attack perhaps more would have hit, though this little duel of theirs put a smile on Kinnes face. The punches that did hit, even with the padding, were sure to leave bruises.

Now it was his turn. Miro was already close and so he would do a quick jab with an elbow aimed at Miros face, and then a quick kick to his side with the heel of the foot striking at the kids body. Then as quickly as possible the fighter got back into his stance if Miro was going to use magic to augment his game why couldn’t he? Though he was not yet all that talented with the flux he was going to prepare his next attack. Kinne was not fool enough to believe that Miro was not using magic. It was obvious to him by the speed and power of the punches that he was doing so or Miro was just getting that good, but he doubted the latter. Magic can be used to augment almost anything.

Breathing in he focused on the flux, he felt the streams, and he willed the energy to his arm. After he could feel the energy was there, that subtle and should be forbidden power, he launched another punch right for the center of Miros chest. It was supposed to be fast, unfaltering, and rewarding. Though we will see how the kid deals with a slight taste of his own medicine.

[Miro]

Miro smiled as the punches blew through his guard. Kinneas was good at defending attacks, so even one hit was a victory. It seemed that six or seven punches landed, but was it worth it? Miro had used a bit of djed, pressed his arm to its limit and put himself in range for an attack. The worst of it was the djed flux shifted to his arm. The rest of his body would be toned down in speed and power, but perhaps the key was to rely on the shifted energy? Kinneas sent an elbow Miro's direction. Miro moved his right hand up and locked his elbow at a right angle. He pumped his djed into his arm. The shoulder started the fortifications, then lead into his bicep and finally his forearms. He locked them and readied, but Kinneas' elbow was a heavy force. The spin on the elbow was too great for Miro's arm. Though he tensed the muscles, he couldn't hope to stop the attack without a broken arm. The elbow slammed into his forearm and guided it directly to Miro's face. His fist popped him in the nose causing blood to spray out. Miro's face turned when suddenly a kick landed flush in his stomach causing him to bend over. Miro pulled his djed flux to his stomach and his hands soon followed. He held his gut as his mouth hung open. The padded armor took a good amount of the damage, but without bracing himself it meant little. Miro's control over the Flux was loose at best. He pulled loosely from the rest of his body centering around the point of impact. He tensed up blacking out everything but the pain as if to cut himself off from anything more that might follow. A final punch landed harshly in his chest unlike anything that had hit him before. Kinneas was not playing around anymore. This punch was as much a pat on the shoulder as a blast to Miro's ego. He was not holding back anymore against Miro. His punch held an ability Miro knew Kinneas had, but had never felt before. The Flux. Kinneas used the Flux and even worse was that Miro allowed him the chance to do it. Miro's insides felt like they were scrambled. If not for the vest and his bracing he may be in danger. Everything was black and the pain was intense. Miro's eyes remained clutched shut. At some point he had hit the ground and now remained huddled up in pain. Kinneas had beaten him in melee combat and even in the Flux. He continued to gasp silently for air and find his center again.

Miro while he was sent reeling back had several things flowing through his mind. What could he do? How bad was he hurting? He wondered what the hell he was doing. "Amateur mistakes, one after another. The Flux is a pathway that desires determination and focus not only for channeling djed through the pathways, but clarity of mind for tactics. Only an idiot finds themselves left open like that when so much more could be done. As long as I remain on the offensive Kinne should remain on defensive. When offensive ends his style changes to offensive. In close he will rip me apart, so if I flux attack and shift it to my leg to jump away it could give me the chance to do damage and get away. Overall Kinneas would take Miro in unassisted combat and deal damage. But in terms of the Flux Miro had the upper hand. Kinneas had shown him that fighting close quarters can leave open opportunities for the Flux. Since Miro was the opposite of Kinneas in terms of skills, perhaps flux attacks could leave open an opportunity for an unassisted attack.

Now it was time to change things. Miro had remained on the ground for a chime or so, gaining a bit of composure back. He stumbled to his feet and sucked up the pain that still remained. He ached through his body and his stomach was upset. If he had eaten he may have lost it. Oh well, he couldn't dwell on mistakes now. He learned what he could and now it was time to teach. Miro coughed a hard heavy cough and settled his body. He stood up and brushed the sweat from his brow. A determined look struck his face that shouted round two. He took a stance his left foot leading and his right turned outwards behind. His left fist was braced near his jaw and his right poised behind it ready to strike hard. He wiped the blood from his face and spat at the floor below him. "Kinne, you know this just pissed me off. You knocked the wind out of me, but that was just luck...cheater..I am mad now, so you can piss yourself and quit now. I won't hold back anymore!" Miro charged forward at him at a hard pace. The speed was reduced from the remaining pain from his injuries but the effort more than made up for it. A hard pressed Miro charged forward with all of his might. As he neared he pulled his djed flux down to his right leg. Instantly once his arms ran in range he let out with a brisk paced combo. A cross thrown at the side of his face to press him to defend. A right cross aimed to the face as well, keeping him on edge. Miro's attack lacked the full power he wanted, or the speed he needed to cause any damage, but the vigor was there. Now he would do a flurry of jabs for the chest, still keeping his distance. He kept his fists in close, not adding too much power to it, but keeping a good pace. After eight he began to slow down and moved to the furthest distance he could manage with a kick. This attack would leave a slight opening for Kinneas to react to, and Miro was sure he would see it coming. A turn so his right leg was behind him would lead him into his next attack. He drew in djed and pulled his flux down to power up a final lesson teaching kick. Miro twisted and brought his foot up with all of his force aiming for Kinneas head. This attack would get him back for the roundhouse, the elbow and the flux punch all in one. Afterwards he would attempt to fall back and recenter his djed flux and react to the attacks. If Kinneas wasn't careful Miro would turn this battle around. Right now he was avoiding reimancy even thought it was killing him. But being beaten was not an option. Not now. Not when he had so much to win!

[Kinneas]

All his attacks hit. Smiling with his achievement, he has fought magic users before and the trick is to get in close and don’t give them time to breathe, time to concentrate, or hardly any time to react. That was the key to beating a magic user. Without time for concentration a mages spells would be sloppy and uncontrolled making it rather idiotic to cast because then one would have an equal chance of hurting themselves along with the opponent. A risk that only the desperate would take, though he wondered how far Miro would go to win with that childish and untamed mind of his. To him whoever taught Miro magic sure was not in their right mind. Who would give a child such power, but then again those kinds of thoughts brought him back memories of the past and what happens when children use devastating power.

Seeing Miro in pain made him wince, like it almost affected him just as much as it did the boy. Though he had to remind himself that Miro asked for it, and so with that in mind he justified his actions. If the boy wanted it then it should and would be given. Allowing ample time for the kid to get up Kinne readied himself again. He really did not get Miros obsession with winning all the time and Kinne sure was not going to throw a little sparing match out of proportion. It was just for fun and he was treating it so. Win or lose it didn’t matter, though that could not be said with Miro. He was sure the kid was planning on ‘winning’ at any cost or cheap trick. He just had to be prepared and more ready than Miro was. He just needed to remember the key.

Getting back in stance with his elbows bent at ninety degree angles and fists in front of his chin, his toes pointed outward, feet shoulder width apart, and his weight evenly distributed between both feet. Leaning forward slightly and rotating to the right, his left foot planted in front of him, diagonal from his other foot, leading, while his right foot was a bit behind pointing outward. The left side of his body was leading and now he mentally prepared for Miro’s attack. Once again his fists were open palms signaling that he was ready to try to deflect any attack thrown at him.

Miro ran at him at quite an impressive pace, but kinne stood there, like a rock, ready, feeling and perceiving the notion and attack before it came. His evantia was truly a gift for it allowed him to be one step ahead at all times, though being one step ahead doesn’t mean one cannot trip up once in a while. There are some things that a person can see coming but cannot stop. That was a lesson the evantia taught him. You can see things coming but you cannot always stop or prevent them from happening. The first two attacks the kid let at him were easy enough to redirect, only taking a slight nudge from his open handed style to move them off course. His hands were already at by his face, what did he hope to accomplish by attacking there? Feeling the punches before they happened gave him a slight advantage, smiling, he let some of the punches to the chest hit him, the ones that he felt would easily be absorbed by the padded armor he was wearing, where as he tried his darnest to redirect to the other punches, which he was successful part of the time. Hitting the opponents flying fists off target was a harder task than it would seem. Aiming for the wrists Kinne would wait for the ‘right time’ to strike then depowering the force behind the strike and knocking it off kilter. There was an opening, but Kinne could feel another attack coming, Miro had it all planned but he was always a step ahead of him when it came to fighting close quarters.

The kick was a good attempt, and although it had great power behind it Miros fighting was still far from his level. Kinne was not about to let such an attack hit him. Thanks to his evantia he saw it coming and therefore had time to react. Miros Jump back allowed Kinne to step forward and then when the kid was managing and ‘winding up’ the kick the fighter took another step, stepping into the kick not allowing it full and ample time to come at him full power. For cutting an attack short was the best way to reduce its power and effectiveness, and, especially with flux, it is important to take away as much power as possible from the attack.

Once in position Kinne used the inner portion of his forearms to block the incoming kick because you don’t want to block a shin bone with your forearm bones that is asking for trouble. After the kick made contact Kinne would, in one swift motion, wrap his arm around the leg in an attempt to trap it under his arm and between body. Using his free hand, the right, he would attempt to grab onto Miros shoulder, sliding up to the leg that the kid was supporting himself on he would plant his right leg behind it and press forward, pushing back with both of his arms. All this in an attempt to trip him and make the kid fall to the floor below where he could then stomp or punch him, but if Miro did lose balance and fall Kinne would gently lower him to the ground allowing the boy to take it how he wanted. Was he mocking the half-blood by lowering or was he just being nice because the fall is a rough one?

If his grapple didn’t work on Miro the he would settle for a block and then a quick punch at Miros chest with his right hand, the one he wasn’t blocking with. After whichever turn of events would happen he would take a step back and get back into his stance, taking it slow and easy. Miro had landed quite the number of punches on him, maybe he was slowing down or the attacks that landed left more than just bruises.

[Miro]

Miro had expected Kinneas to do about as well as he did, perhaps even better. The punches landed against his chest, but he seemed to endure them easily. Then the kick. The damn kick! It landed hard in Kinneas' forearm absorbing most of the attack. Kinneas then moved with the momentum and shifted it so he now had a grip. Kinneas made a grab for his shoulder and Miro took advantage of the opportunity. Miro was light and a grip on his shoulder and leg was plenty enough for him to quit supporting himself. He lifted his left leg at the knee in an attempt to blast Kinneas in his groin. If it was successful and Kinneas released him and hunched over, Miro would attempt to use a fluxed two handed downward strike hitting him over the upper back. If it succeeded Miro would triumphantly place a foot on the grounded Kinneas. If it at any point failed, he would do his best to wriggle away and move back away to a defensive stance. While he was doing all of this he would start to produce res from the center of his back gradually. He hoped the fight might draw to a close, or perhaps shift momentum. Kinneas would know of the res on his back, but perhaps that combined with the attempt at his manhood would show him how serious Miro had become. Miro hadn't a clue what he would do with the res, but one thing he didn't lack was creativity. One way or another this fight would end with Miro cheering in triumph. It was all up to Kinneas when he would throw in the towel.