You think you're scary? (Hyran)

[Nascha]

It was only as Hyran moved behind her that Nascha realized how very bare his chest was. Just as his arms began moving around her neck, she felt her heart beat faster. For one, it had been almost a year since anyone had been in such close proximity to her, and years since someone had been so close whilst not wearing a shirt. Secondly, and more importantly, her body registered that it was sort of under attack, and responding accordingly. The crow, still on its perch, was cawing anxiously, unaware that Nascha was just practicing. She couldn’t blame it, though: her own body didn’t know she was just practicing.

She quickly weighed up her options, trying to keep her breathing steadier. If only her heart would slow down…

Leaning forward and then head-butting him was not an option. Firstly, the hand on the back of her neck would stop her and, on top of that, he had a major height advantage on her, so all she would get, even without the hand, would be pain as her head hit his chest. It seemed that there was only one thing to do.

Tucking her chin closer to her neck and to the side, she made it more difficult for any further choking to take place. From there, she began turning to the right, her right foot stomping on the inside of his ankle and her elbow driving in to his side, which was easily accessible due to the height difference between them. This was done with enough force to make him let go, but not enough to hurt or break anything. They were practicing, after all. In theory, his grip was supposed to loosen so that she could get out, using the momentum from her original turn to the right.
((OOC: I left it kind of open-ended. It’s up to you if it works out >.>))

[Hyran]

The rising tension in Nascha’s body was easy to detect. Hyran could hear her breathing strain a bit, felt her quickening pulse against the skin of his arm. Signs that could not be hidden by her cool demeanor.

She did not take immediate action, but seemed to contemplate her move for a bit. When she did came into action, she changed the position of her head slightly in an attempt to lessen the impact of his hold on her throat, and twisted her body to the side.
Hyran instinctively knew what was coming, and tensed the muscles of his abdomen to catch the worst impact of the coming blow. He did nothing to evade it though, and let her escape his grasp further with relative ease.

“Not bad,” he huffed, her blow having had more impact than he had anticipated, and leaving him a little short on air. “But the kick to the ankles was rather useless,” it did sting though. “It’s not that simple to break a foot or ankle, and if it were me, an action like that would only strengthen my resolve to strangle you.”

Hyran reached out to grab Nascha’s wrist without warning, extending her arm and turning it so the palm of her hand faced the sky. “What you did at the beginning was good, though you might not have succeeded had my grip been tighter. Look, here-“ he pressed his thumb lightly at a spot on the side of her lower arm, very close to the juncture of her elbow. “It’s one of the body’s pressure points. When someone hooks their arm around your neck, place your fingers there and pull down as hard as you can. Anyone’s grip should weaken for a moment, giving you some time and a little space to nudge your chin down in the crook of their elbow, and prevent them from further cutting off your air.”
He had let go of her wrist, and gestured for her to try and find the painful spot herself. If she felt where it was and how to apply pressure, she’d have an easier time finding it on her opponent.

“Striking my side with your elbow was a good move too,” he continued, “however, you might want to twist aside a little further and aim for my stomach next time. Even than, there might be some people that can withstand the pain and not let go of you. If you want to be certain of your escape, finish the the move by extending your arm, and slamming your fist in your opponents groin. A very dishonorable thing to do, but it might save you from even more dishonorable situations.”
Hyran raised his hand to rub the back of his neck, and tilted his head slightly to look at his newfound student. “For obvious reasons, I’d rather not have you try that last part on me.”

[Nascha]

As soon as she escaped his grip, Nascha managed to feel far calmer, as did, apparently, the crow, which had stopped squawking, apparently aware that Nascha was in no apparent danger. She did feel her shoulders tense again slightly as Hyran grabbed her wrist without warning: people taking liberties with her body was something which she did not appreciate at all. Still, she decided to let it go. He was trying to teach her something, after all.

Gingerly, she felt along her arm for the pressure point, finding it surprisingly easily and pressing it very gently several times to memorize its location. She listened intently to his criticisms, having to remind herself that it was good criticism, since her confidence clearly couldn’t make that distinction on its own. A smile did pull at the corner of her mouth at his last suggestion. “The thought did cross my mind,” she admitted. “I just didn’t want to be rude.”

She glanced back at the crow, noting its quietness, then glanced up at the sun. “Already?” she asked herself, then looked back up at Hyran. “One moment. It’s feeding time.” With that, she made her way over to the bird and reached in to the pocket of her cloak, which hung nearby. From it, she drew a few berries and seeds, which she proceeded to feed to the crow. “Worrying about me makes you hungry, hmm?” she asked it softly while it ate, smiling at it a little. As usual, its only response was to keep eating.

As soon as the crow was done, she returned to Hyran. “Sorry. His wing won’t heal if he isn’t fed properly.” In truth, she wasn’t really as apologetic as she sounded. It was as simple as the crow needing her, and Hyran not needing her at all. “Anyway,” she said, ready to move on, “what’s next?”

[Hyran]

Feeding time, hn? The bird wasn’t the only one with an empty stomach, Hyran suddenly noticed. He cast a sidelong glance at his backpack, which he’d left near the riverbank, but decided he’d hold out for a while longer. They’d only just started, taking a break already felt a bit foolish.

He heard her talk softly to her crow, and even though he could not hear what she said, it made him shake his head with a mocking smile. He actually suspected her to generally prefer the bird’s silent company over the company of those who can participate in a proper conversation.
Hyran was about to make a mocking remark about it, when Nascha turned back to him.

“Next? You’d better make sure you have this under control first.” Within a second his arm was back around her throat in the hold they’d practiced, her spine pressed against his body. His grip was a lot tighter now, a lot less forgiving of any mistake she might make.
If she was able to loosen his grip enough to tuck her chin down for protection, he’d let go. That was the only part that needed practice after all, for he was certain she’d execute the moves that followed up to that well enough, and he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about meeting her elbow for a second time.

[Nascha]

Nascha had barely registered what Hyran said before she found herself in yet another headlock, this one tighter. Her body reacted almost without her permission, completely forgetting that it was only training. Instantly, she reached up her left hand to his elbow, her fingers searching for the aforementioned pressure point. At the same time, she stepped to the side as much as she could and drove her arm in to his side again, forgetting to go for the abdomen. Unlike the last time she did this, her hit was less controlled. What it lacked in finesse, however, it made up for with force. As she hit, her fingers found the pressure point on his elbow and pushed hard.

Once Nascha had freed herself, she took several steps forward, a small distance from Hyran before she turned around. “Sorry,” she said after a moment, catching her breath and placing a hand over her rapidly-pounding heart. “I panicked.”

She felt nauseous, unable to believe what a frenzy her mind had gotten in to. Even more unbelievable was the fact that she had actually managed to escape. However, Nascha did feel guilty about having hit her new trainer so unnecessarily hard, especially when he would have probably let her go without her hitting him at all.

[Hyran]

A low groan escaped his lips and he gently reached for his side. “’s Okay,” he growled, lightly pressing his bruised muscles. “I surprised you.” He was pretty glad she’d forgotten to properly aim at his stomach.
Kahn’s laughter echoed in his mind, and another low, threatening growl of displeasure rumbled in Hyran’s chest. He corrected himself quickly though, relaxing his expression and fixing his gaze back on his student. “Calm down,” he chuckled when he noticed the state she was in, “as you can see, you did well enough.”


“Next one is simple,” he barely gave her time to regain her composure as he continued. “Here,” the Cerulean extended his arms and opened his hands towards Nascha, silently requesting her to place her hands in his. If she did, he’d pull them up to position them around his throat.

“Has anyone ever tried a frontal choke on you?”

[Nascha]

As Hyran extended his hands towards her, it took a lot of Nascha’s self-control not to flinch away. Her body was calmer, but still illogical. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself by concentrating on Hyran’s question. Frontal choke? It had been tried on her once or twice, the first time had been just long enough for her to pass out and have her possessions stolen. The second time, she had managed to escape, but only just.

Calmer, Nascha hesitantly placed her hands in to Hyran’s, ignoring her mind’s protests. In response to his question, she nodded wryly. “Unfortunately.”

[Hyran]

Hyran gave the girls fingers a little squeeze to indicate she should keep her grip on his throat, where he had placed them. “Than you might already know what I’m going to tell you. Attack is your defense in this situation. It’s no use trying to pry your opponent’s hands away from you, you don’t have time for that.” By the look on Nascha’s face Hyran guessed she had experienced that to be true, and didn’t like to be remembered of it.
“Escape is pretty simple though,” he continued. “As you can see, with both of your hands around my neck, you leave your center wide open for attack. If I want you to let go, I can simply apply pressure here,” Hyran raised his hand to lightly press his index-and middle finger in the hollow where her collarbones met.
“Or I could punch you here.” The Ceruleans hand turned into a fist, and his knuckles grazed the skin of her throat. “You can imagine that hurts.”

He tapped her arms lightly to indicate she could let go. “Physique does not matter. Your opponent might be taller, and have longer limbs, but he’s using both his hands. But you only need one hand to deal him a blow with, so you can twist your body sideways and make use of the extra length of your shoulder.”

Hyran was silent for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. He rubbed lightly at the skin where the Chaktawe’s fingers had been. Her touch still lingered there and although he couldn’t exactly describe the feeling as being unpleasant, it did tick him off.

[Nascha]

Following his signaled instructions, Nascha gingerly kept a light grip on Hyran’s throat, still guilty about having hurt him the last time they had come in to contact. She did note the angle at which her arms were raised with some amusement, though. He was more than a head taller than her, so it felt somewhat ridiculous to be choking him, even if it was for practice.

She did try to pay attention to his instructions, though, remembering that the last time she‘d escaped, she had used her leg, and aimed considerably lower than the neck. Crude, but effective. At the time, she hadn’t really been too concerned about honor. Realising he had tapped her arms, she let go, folding her arms over her chest and watching him rub his neck. Had she held on too hard? She really should have paid more attention to that.

There was one question Nascha had, however she wasn’t sure whether she was brave enough to ask. Her anxiety was not to do with Hyran, but more with memories that she didn’t know she wanted to remember. I need to know, she reasoned with herself, ignoring her body’s subtle protests. “What do you do,” she began quietly at first, but her words gained momentum “if you’re on your back and someone is sitting on your chest, choking you?”

She managed not to flinch at the image that jumped out at her. It was fuzzy around the edges because it had happened so long ago, but the worst details were still painfully clear. His face, leering. Her breath leaving her body. The pain. She forced herself to look up at Hyran, rather than at the ground. This way, she had something more present to focus on.

[Hyran]

Hyran’s eyes darkened almost unnoticeably when Nascha spoke. “You don’t do anything, you’d better avoid that situation altogether.” He paused for a second, studied her expression. It seemed her body had tensed up again, her eyes focusing on things beyond this moment.
“I can still teach you some techniques,” Hyran frowned lightly when she looked up and caught his glance. “But if your opponent is someone of my stature, I’m afraid you might lack the strength to back them up.”

As Hyran kneeled down and gestured Nascha to come closer, he realized that this was the first time he found a training situation particularly… awkward, but in a slightly amusing way. When he got out of bed this morning, there was no way he could have anticipated that a few hours later, he’d find himself lying in the grass with a young woman atop of him.
He indeed let himself fall back in a controlled motion, arms stretched, allowing the Chaktawe to climb over him and reach for his neck. She needed a little vocal encouragement though, before she seemingly reluctant, did as he requested.

Something about Nascha fascinated him a little, he came to notice, but that was probably because of her naivety regarding his status as a Cerulean. And on the other hand, something about her slightly angered him too, and he had no idea where that came from. Not that the latter was really uncommon for him.