[Storm Shrine] A Lesson Not Soon Forgotten (Bones)

[Aehra]

55th of Summer, 512 AV Having reached the foothills at last, Aehra turned to look out into the city she had grown up in. Warped and distorted from this alien angle, Aehra's home seemed suddenly smaller, less the sprawling port city and more the small hamlet by the sea. She knew it not to be true, but it didn't stop her sudden realization that her whole world up to this point was so small compared to the whole continent-- it terrified her, more than it rightfully should have. A quick snap of wind causes her to shiver and brings her out of her thoughts. She turns towards the shrine, watching as a sailor enters with a small basket of fish. His hair is a sandy brown, bleeding into gray at the temples, and his eyes and cheeks are sunken into his skull. She thinks that she might have seen him in the shop a few days ago, with a small girl no older than five. Aehra approaches the temple herself, stopping a few yards short and looking around for her sparring partner. She'd found the Martial Association more than a fortnight before now, but her new job's hours made it difficult to find a day that she was free to spar, let alone Mr. Clarke's hesitation at allowing her to fight, no matter how often she assured him that this would be a right proper way to get out her frustrations. Aehra had promised to stop fighting when she took the job, thinking that it would be easy to leave the life of constant bruises and fear of fast-approaching stone walls. She needed it, though. More than she knew she was denying, she needed the feel of muscle under her knuckles, and she needed the slow burn of a blooming bruise. She needed her blood racing, her pulse thump, thump, thumping in her ears, and she needed the sound of labored breathing filling the air. Most of all, she needed the exhaustion. She had become so accustomed to exhaustion dragging her weary bones into her thin mattress and her mind into heavy slumber that she found herself almost incapable of falling asleep at reasonable hours. The thought that she would be able to slide into the familiar groove again had her twitching in anticipation, glancing about for her partner. She had tried to remember her their name, honestly. Her memory was a fickle creature, though, and soon found more important things to remember. She thought that maybe she would thank them afterwards, if she had the strength, and just the idea that maybe blissful exhaustion would take hold of her once again had her smiling into the sun as she waited.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Fighting. Bones was all about fighting. That and the importance, of other people knowing how to fight. He felt it was everyone's responsibility, to work to get stronger, to be able to fight, and defend yourself. It meant less work for him, less having to come to peoples aid. Though since the things you were trying to fight, were also working to get better, it was a constant battle to see who would be the victor. He had shown up today again, for a short spar. He had other things to do, but a bell spent throwing some punches or whatever, would be a bell well spent. Once there, he took a bit to try and size people up... Try and see who he was fighting... It took a bit, but finally he picked out a girl, who had a look on her face, like she was also looking for someone also. And she did not have any weapon out, as most of the people did. So she was likely his partner. She was a tiny little thing, only 5 foot tall, freckled, with blue eyes. It was a bit hard to tell though how good of a fighter she was. Really, just by looking, he would not look all that great. Though his gladius he kept strapped on his back did make him look the part a bit more, a bit more imposing. He walked up to the woman, having to slant his neck down to look her in the eyes, a blank look on his face. "I am Bonesss. Are you my partner for today? I ssink it wasss jussst hand to hand right? Or did you want to learn wiss weaponsss? Or jussst ssstick to sse fissstsss? I am ready when you are."

[Aehra]

Aehra jumped a little at the man's words, and although her mouth twisted a bit at his accent, it certainly wasn't the strangest she'd heard, not by a long shot; she knew for a fact that several people found her own way of speaking weird, even if in her opinion those people weren't quite right in the head. She'd learned young enough not to judge a person's voice. She'd learned a little bit more recently not to judge a person at all when they were more than two heads taller than she was. She looked the man up and down and grinned, pleased to see that he wasn't exaggeratedly built. Lean fighters were more challenging, in her opinion, as they tended to be lighter on their feet and faster with their fists. "Fists are good, yeah?" Aehra whipped her head around to look for a suitable area, and quickly spotted an abandoned grassy expanse no more than fifteen yards across both ways. It would certainly do, and people would likely make way for them if they needed it. She looked back up to meet her sparring partner's eyes and found herself a little unnerved by the striking silver there. Nonetheless, she had an appointment she needed to meet. "Over there's fine, yeah?" Without waiting for a response, she headed to her chosen area and turned back around to face the man. She entertained the idea of asking his name, briefly, and decided against it. She didn't need his name rattling around inside her head while she was supposed to be focused on the movements of the fight. Aehra rolled her shoulders and her head, wincing a little at the practically nonexistent pain in her ribs; she'd very nearly forgotten about her almost-gone injury, and made a note to protect her ribs from further harm. No matter what the store keeper had said about allowing Aehra this spar, she doubted her employer would be too pleased if she managed to come into the store with a cracked ribs. She looked up again, at her partner. She clenched and unclenched her fists experimentally before bringing them up to shoulder-level. "Let's go, then."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Of course, hand to hand did not necessarily mean just unarmed combat plain and simple. There was also wrestling, a skill Bones was getting pretty good at, and even straight up street brawling. He doubted he would use that. It was more about using tooth and nail, biting and scratching, using random objects. Nah, he would stick to hand to hand, and wrestling. As usual, the woman gave him a once over, inspecting him. It was expected really, to sum up your foe. Just as long as you did not set to much by it, or else you might be surprised by a amazing talent hidden under the seemingly weak flesh. Bones returned the friendly smile, though on him it seemed much different. Unlike a normal persons smile, which usually was engendering, and comforting, his seemed more animalistic and intimidating. For the life of him, he just could not get that facial expression down that these humans did so naturally. Of course, they had been doing it there entire life, and he had spent the first century of his in Zinrah, surrounded by fellow snake people. He was a bit annoyed at her, for not bothering to tell him her name, as he had just mentioned his to her. Really, his speech was not that bad, that she could not know his name. Some of these humans could be so rude. Of course, if she knew the truth of him, this would not be the case... But then there would likely also be a mob forming to kill him, or run him out of town... Perhaps anonymity was better... Bones did a few simple stretches to prepare. He did some squats, bending at the knees, and keeping his back straight, and some toe touches, bending his back, and keeping his knees straight. Some back bends, leaning back, and some arm stretches, crossing them in front for a moment, and then holding them together behind his back, and trying to raise them as high as he could. Once those were done, he was ready to go, and joined the unnamed woman in the spot she had chosen. He smiled at her again, as she brought up her hands. He brought his own up, one at waist height, the other up at neck level. Then he dove in, attacking. A quick jab at the head with the left, a punch at her left side with his right fist, a kick at her shins with his left foot... And then switching over to wrestling, he came in and made a grab at her legs, to try and sweep her off her feet, and do a take down, trying to lay her out with him on top on the ground. Perhaps his sudden change of fighting style would confuse her, and let him take her down to the ground. If he did get ahold of her though, she was in trouble, due to his inhuman strength. Not that he would go full power in a spar. Though she would likely try to dodge, counter, or block any of those. It was only his initial bout, still early on. Even if he did get a early take down, they could still continue. Though hopefully she was good enough to block or avoid the other stuff, which could actually be damaging, unlike the take down which might just wind her.

[Aehra]

Aehra flinched at the man's smile, jarred by the uneasiness it set in her bones. She watched him stretch, trying to suppress a shiver. She had wondered why he'd referred to himself as "bones", but she understood now; he was nothing but bones and muscle. She'd assumed it was a nickname and not his real name, and she was grateful that her assumption seemed to be correct. She planned to ask him about his real name after the fight. She may have enjoyed gifting pet names to others on a semi-regular basis, but she absolutely despised using one that was already there; it felt cheap and unimaginative. Watching her opponent stretch, she had the fleeting thought that she was thoroughly out of her league, but she brushed it away quickly. She'd survived street fights for over a year. Surely, she could handle someone who probably had their training in a more... refined setting. Aehra bounced back and forth, shifting her balance from foot to foot as she prepared for the fight. She'd only gotten her guard up just in time when the man lunged at her, clipping the side of her head with a quick jab. Her guard already being up against attacks to her ribs, she was able to block the blow to her side fairly easily, and she managed to dodge his kick fairly easily. When he disappeared from her sight, she hardly had enough time to process her confusion when she felt him tackle her, pinning her to the ground. The air rushed out of her chest with a punch (though not quite as painful as the actual punch that had the left side of her head thumping faintly). Aehra smiled wildly. She had missed this. Quickly, she reached to press her left forearm against the man's neck and fisted her hand in the back of his shirt, just at his left shoulder blade. She slammed her knee into his gut and pushed hard at his neck, using her grip on his shirt at leverage, while she tried to push herself up.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Nothing was more exciting and energizing, than a good fight. Of course he would never want a dull spar. He liked a feisty combatant, one that could take hits and give them back. This was what he lived for. Not for the blood and the killing, but for that moment of intimacy gained upon facing a foe, upon bringing your might to bear on them. This was living. This was letting loose, and letting his instincts fly free, if only partially restrained. The woman he was fighting was not to bad, he would give her that. They crossed paths, and were a whirl of fighting. His light jab only clipped her head, nearly harmlessly, and she managed to block the punch to the side, as her hand was already there. She chose evasion to deal with the kick, moving just out of range of the attack. His take down worked as well as could be expected, knocking her on her back, with him landing on top of her straddling her. Of course, if this had been a wrestling match, that would have been more or less it, and end of fight. If he had been wanting to hurt her though, this would have been the opportunity for him to use his dominant position to lay in on her, raining blows from above on her face and head, while he had her down. But he did not do that, as he was not aiming to seriously hurt her in a spar. Instead he paused, trying to decide what to do. Luckily for him, the way he was on top of her, his legs blocked the gut strike, as she managed to slip one of her legs a bit loose of the pin. As she swept him for leverage, Bones decided to give in to her move, let her think she had unseated him. He swept to the side, rolling off of her, off his shoulder, and popping back up in a crouch, spinning around to face her. he brought his own hands up, and gave his off grin, motioning for her to come at him. It was only fair after all, since he had gotten to attack her.

[Aehra]

Aehra's surprise (and smug satisfaction) at her move having worked so well were quickly overshadowed by fear; she was on her back, entirely vulnerable, while her opponent was decidedly neither of those things. She shoved herself to her feet as quickly as she could manage, whirling on the man. His eerie grin seemed less out of place now, and actually looked the appropriate amounts of taunting and strange. He motioned towards himself with his hands in what by all rights should have seemed like a condescending gesture, but instead only came across as a perfectly straightforward "your turn". Oh, I do like him, Aehra thought. She darted forward, keeping her jabs light and fast, and (more importantly), refraining from letting her arms leave their posts as guards around her ribs for more than an instant. She kept to his right side, aiming to give him something to protect. If she had a handicap in this fight, well, she would damn well try her best to even out the playing field. She targeted his shoulder, the joint between neck and shoulder, and--when she'd circled around-- the slight dip under his shoulder blade. She doubted all of her hits would land, but this at least put her on the offensive, and the offensive was where she was comfortable. She may have picked up quite a few tricks about ducking and dodging blows that she knew she couldn't handle, but she preferred her opponents to be the ones forced on their guard. Aehra threw one last, sharper jab into his side, more to pull herself back to the fight than anything else.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones of course was not attempting to be rude or taunting. He just did not grasp such human expressions, and had never understood a smile. This sad imitation, was the best he could do, and it was often misread. He was enjoying this fight though... She was coming at him, light and fast, jabbing and punching quick light blows with little force behind them. He combated them in many ways. Some of them he dodged, stepping back and getting out of range. Some he intercepted, with a palm to the wrist, pushing it wide so it missed. But she was darting to fast, for him to grab at her wrist and pull her in by it. Some he was unable to do either to, and ended up turtling up a bit, letting the blows strike the outside of his shoulders and arms a bit. He would likely have a few bruises on both of them, but none of the blows had hit anything critical, such as his neck, torso, or head. He moved with her, keeping facing, not letting her circle around to his side and crack behind his defenses. Though he did notice something a bit odd about her stance, about how she was punching and defending... Even in her attacks, there was something there... He could not be sure exactly what, but he was gathering info, and would soon have it figured out, if he was lucky... He did not yet know that she had an injured side and ribs, but with all of her tells, and over protection of them, he was bound to figure it out. But then, if she did not protect them, she ran the risk of getting hit there, and taken down. As she threw a punch at his side, he caught it on his arm, and then pushed forward. He swept his right leg in to kick her in the left knee, and possibly make her drop to her knees. Regardless, he made another quick kick, aiming at her left leg again. Then he swept in with a few punches, his arms a bit sore from the rain of blows they had blocked, but still working, sending in two quick left jabs at her right side, and a heavy right at her head on her left, followed by a left coming in on the opposite side.

[Aehra]

Aehra hadn't honestly expected her rain of light blows to do any real damage, but she still felt ever so slightly disappointed that they seemed to have no effect whatsoever. Nevertheless, she recognized that a brief pause in her movements had switched their positions, and she was back on the defensive. She threw out a last punch, hoping to get something in before she was forced to duck and weave against his attacks, and was surprised when her wrist was grabbed and she was thrown backwards and off her balance. His first kick connected with her shin, although she did not drop to her knees; rather, she hopped awkwardly on her other foot for only a second before dancing between both feet. The attack left her prepared for more kicks, and she was able to block the second kick through the quiet protestations of her sore shin. Without thinking, she let her guard against her ribs down just long enough for him to strike. The quick jab-jab of two hits in succession burned her right side. She sucked in a sharp breath, and when he hit the left side of her head, she saw red. She caught his wrist with her right hand just before his next blow connected, and attempted to drive her other hand up under his ribs while she twisted the arm in her grip. She dropped his wrist, and all thoughts of any refined fighting style left her head, burning away while the flames on her right side burned ever brighter. She punched once, twice, three times at his right side before jumping back and coming back in with an attempted blow to the left side of his neck.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Looking at Bones, you would think the blows to him had done nothing. Of course, that was partially for show. Never show weakness, or you got eaten, was how Bones had been raised, quite literally. Likely nothing had been broken, but in the morning he was going to have several bruises on his arms and shoulders. Of course, not all of the blows had landed, some being dodged or blocked, but the ones that had hit, had smarted pretty good. His first kick had struck off, hitting her in the shin, which was quite painful but not debilitating like a kick to the knee might have been, a wise decision to choose were that kick struck. The next one she was prepared for though, and blocked also. He had not been expecting the light jabs to her side to be as effective, and noted a moment later her intake of breath at the hits which should have not hurt to badly. He filed it away for later, to avoid the spot, or to take advantage of it, he did not know. But he was distracted from that fact, when he landed a blow to the side of her head. A much better hit, really a lucky hit for its location. Then she did some odd blocking maneuver, grabbing at his punching wrist, and to push his chest. He was not really sure what she was trying to do, or how that was supposed to injure him. But as he spent a half tick trying to decipher it, she caught him off guard with a flurry to his side. The first two strikes landed successfully, one of the blows hitting his flesh on his side, likely to leave a bruise, and the other going off course and striking him in the hipbone, likely to hurt her hand a bit, along with his hip. The third strike he managed to deflect with a push at her wrist, as he so often used to avoid a blow, guiding it past him. He avoided the blow to the neck, by moving to the side, instead catching it in the shoulder, falling a step back under her torrent all at once. Bones let off a cough, both of them having taken a few blows... He took a few steps back, feeling the heat rise in his face, his blood lust come up, and his need to feed and his desire to rip her apart... A hungry animal look coming into his eyes, as he saw her as meat... "Hold on, perhapsss we ssshould take a breasser for a few chimesss..." Bones would try to smile at her, though it did not completely come off right... Really, it was more for her... He was a bit afraid of what he might do if his instincts totally took over... He might flip out and go feral for a moment, and do something he might regret... Like attack her full force, or try to snap her neck... Even though his hands and his instincts were urging him to wrap around her neck, and strangle her... For now he had them in check though...