[Kendoka Sasaran ] A Better Opponent (Rykanis)

by **Razkar** on October 22nd, 2012, 4:36 pm

22nd of Fall, 512AV

The horse flesh undulated under him as the brush glided from one end of Mrrko, his flanks shimmering just a little more with every stroke. The horse whinnied softly from inside the feed bag over his face, chewing contentedly. The Myrian patted the horse and the back and stroked his long snout.

"Enough for today." He said, in a tone that seemed far more gentle than other would have believed possible. "Eat your lunch."

He knew the horse would be fine, tethered outside the foreboding combat college that was the Kendoka Sasaran. If Mizra was anything to go by, no-one would be stupid or insane enough to attempt a theft from one of his students, however tenuous that word might be. Mrrko would be safe, and since he had a nice shady spot, content, too.

Razkar was not hoping for the same ease. The scars and wounds that littered his body were almost healed now, and even after two days he was still yearning for some of the same sparring he had experienced with Vanator. A thrill, truly it was, but... something was lacking. Some urgency, and not simply from real combat.

The Myrian knew what it was. The Drykas was not virgin to combat - his performance against those Zith was plenty of proof - but he was Razkar's equal, maybe even lesser, as far as actual skill went. And, as his mother and trainers had always told him back in the jungle, the only way you would ever improve your killing arts was to train with those more accomplished that yourself.

Nothing is ever easy. Nothing worth the pain, anyway...

With that thought in mind, the Myrian heaved open the double doors and the familiar sounds of crashing wood, bare feet on mats and cries of triumph and agony engulfed him. Mizra, the towering and taciturn teacher of this sacred place, spotted him immediately.

So did someone else.

by **Rykanis Dakshata** on October 22nd, 2012, 8:51 pm

Compared to most Akalaks, Rykanis was not yet a formidable opponent. By his race he was young, only a bit over 70 years old... Just over 7 foot tall... And a lean 270 lbs... Considering how tall he was, that weight was actually pretty spread out, not to much of his weight making up muscle even. It just was not his natural body type. Something he needed to work on, to build his muscle mass, which he had particular difficulty with.

Of course, he also spent less time than other Akalaks perfecting his fighting skills. He was generally more often seen trying to learn secrets, looking at the world around him, scouting around, not fighting directly. But being an Akalak, he still had to spend a great deal of time fighting and perfecting his body, as his people and society demanded.

His main side was in control, as usual when fighting and sparring. His off side really was even less one for direct combat, and just took the point of an observer, giving his main side helpful hints and information he picked up on.

As he entered the Sasaran that day, he had decided to do a bit of stretches and tumbling, to work on his maneuverability and flexibility. Who knew when being able to do a flip or acrobatic maneuver might save his life? So he decided to work on it first.

Going over to a secluded corner of the mat, he bent at the waist to touch his toes, trying not to flex his knees... Once... Twice... He bent down, touching his toes for a moment, before the pain forced him to bounce back up... Then he stretched his arms, putting them behind his back, linking his fingers, and pushing out while keeping his arms straight and fingers together... Then he leaned forward, trying to touch his head with his laced fingers, ending up doing little more than bending forward. Definitely room for improvement.

Then some tumbles. He crouched a bit low, bending his knees and bringing himself lower to the mat... Then he ran forward, and tilted to the side, while pulling into a ball, landing on one shoulder and rolling over to land on his feet, with his knees up to his chest. A bit dizzy, he realized he had gone off course, and so did another two, until he could do a forward roll straight.

Finally, more or less done, he tried one last thing, which he doubted he could do, but had seen before, and could not wait till the day he could perform the same acrobatic feet. A handstand!

Concentrating on his entire body, he dipped low, putting his hands on the ground flat... Then he prepared, and pushed up, bringing his feet up over his head, his entire body a straight line... For about 3 ticks, until his arms gave and he tumbled forward to land on his back with a thud... Definitely did not have that one figured out... Something to do with balancing his weight, or some such.

Done, he moved over to the weapons rack, choosing out a wooden lakan... And on a second thought, choosing out a second. He decided on a whim to try using two today.

As he turned to walk back into the fighting area, who should he see walking into the door? A Myrian! Well well, that was certainly interesting. He could not pass up fighting a knew race, one he had not yet battled or conversed with. Perhaps he would learn something new today after all.

Holding his pair of wooden lakan, he walked up to the man, who was clearly a Myrian.

"Hello, I am Rykanis. Would you like to spar? Once you get a weapon of course. I will wait."

by **Razkar** on October 22nd, 2012, 10:21 pm

Razkar had to admit, he was getting tired of the neck ache from looking up at these damn Akalaks. This one was over a foot taller than him, by his eyes, but his polite words belied his height. And, thank the Goddess, he had the presence of mind to keep his Common simple.

The Myrian gauged the man, or did as best he could. Akalaks, he was discovering, did not age as his kind did. This one actually looked younger than him, but could have very easily been three or four times his age. And he'd seen him limbering up on the mats. Not a natural or trained acrobat, perhaps, and certainly without a Myrian's natural athleticism, but still... promising.

But it was the dual sticks that sealed it. You wanted a challenge? Well, here it is...

Razkar grinned with those sharp, yellow teeth and shed his cloak of scalps. He hung it up neatly near the entrance, along with his weapons, and nodded politely.

"Yes. I like to spar with you." He held up a finger and selected a wooden hand axe from the rack of weapons lining the wall. Mizra caught his eye and cocked a wary eyebrow. Razkar nodding curtly, and that was it. Obviously, it was the same rules as last time: nothing serious. "OK. I ready."

They walked over to the nearest mat, away from the throng of sparring students. They wanted to keep this between them. For now, anyway. About five feet away from each other, the two men faced each other and Razkar nodded.

"When you ready."

Clad solely in his loincloth and leather boots, eyes shining like black stones under water in anticipation, he awaited the huge, polite Akalak's alswer.

by **Rykanis Dakshata** on October 22nd, 2012, 11:08 pm

Luckily for the Myrian, Rykanis had chosen to use his common. Admittedly, it was not his best language. Neither was it his worst. But he was good enough to have a reasonable conversation, even if in his head he thought in Tukant.

Rykanis if nothing else, liked having people underestimate him. It made it all the easier for him to win, when they assumed he was not to good at fighting. In reality, he was a pretty good fighter, at least compared to a non-Akalak. His average Akalakan size and strength, were much more than even a skilled person of many other races. His size also helped, most other people had trouble fighting someone so large, and the weight he could throw behind his attacks due to it.

Rykanis gave the Myrian a moment, to get rid of his gear and weapons, he had already set aside his real lakan and stuff, and for him to prepare himself... He watched as he chose a small axe type weapon, a odd choice but not necessarily bad... But not one a Akalak would generally use though.

As they moved into position, Rykanis eyed the other fighter, a bit annoyed already, as he had not returned his name... He bent his knees, and his elbows, readying himself to move, and fight, making ready, and spoke quickly.

"It is common courtesy for one to give ones name, when the other does."

After waiting a tick for him to give his name, Rykanis gave the Myrian his answer, which was very common a response for Rykanis, but very odd for an Akalak. Certainly if this Myrian had fought other Akalaks, he would be put off or surprised for a moment by Rykanis style of sparring, which was holding nothing back while he tried to stave the other persons skull in with a wooden implement. He had not yet left the Sasaran without bruises and wounds to prove it... But neither had any of his spar partners...

One moment he was all joy and friendliness, his body slowly bending its joints as he lowered himself into the ready position... The next, he had launched himself forward at his foe, a battlecry parting from his lips, Raaaah!

He launched himself at the Myrian, making a slash with his right lakan at his torso, forcing him to either block the attack, or to dodge it, or else get smashed by his blow. And not letting up a moment, regardless of whether he dodged it or blocked it, which alone would not be easy, he then used his left lakan, taking a slash directly at his head.

Luckily for the Myrian, Rykanis was not used to using two weapons at once, so instead of his weapons acting in unison, one moved, and then the other.

by **Razkar** on October 23rd, 2012, 12:09 am

The massive Akalak launched himself at Razkar across the mat right before the Myrian opened his mouth in reply, arms already tensed and raised in attack. But Razkar had learned Omshev's lesson well. Not necessarily expecting a surprise, but... not not expecting it.

The Myrian bent his knees and cursed himself for not getting two weapons. Still, he was better with one, and faced with a man who carried two, who decided that chivalry wasn't high on his list of priorities.

The heavy chopping blow from the right came in horizontal and Razkar stepped forward, raising his left arm at the same time and slamming his forearm vertically-

-into the Akalak's wrist. No way was he going to risk breaking a bone, and by stepping forward he stepped into this Rykanis' reach.

But that wasn't the end of it.

The second blow came in as Razkar expected it to: you don't wield two weapons unless you're going to employ two strikes, and since his opponent seemed set on going all-out here, the chop to the head wasn't exactly-

-but it was coming too fast to block with his wooden ax and Razkar ducked under it, height difference working to his advantage for once as it sailed over his head-

-and chopped with the ax diagonally at the Akalak's left thigh, left arm still trembling with the impact of stopping that first sweeping right, legs bent and ready to send himself flying back after the ax makes contact.

by **Rykanis Dakshata** on October 23rd, 2012, 1:21 am

Rykanis should have expected it. Blocking the arm instead of the blade, a rather simple trick to use, one he had used before, though admittedly against an Akalak of similar strength. The jarring blow from his slash would probably be as painful to the Myrian, as it was to Rykanis, due to the strength and force behind his arm. Even so, his wrist stung pretty good from the block.

Next the Myrian ducked his second slash, dipping under the weapon, as it slashed by just over him. By know Rykanis was starting to get a feel for his foe, trying to figure out what he would do next... Already Rykanis heart was speeding up, beating harder and faster, as his body got pumped up. As soon as he saw the axe coming in at his leg, he was pulling his right arm back from where it had met with the others arm, and he was jumping back a single hop, which with his long legs ate up a good distance, getting him out of reach of the axe.

Reaching out with his newly freed right lakan, he slashed down at the axe, trying to knock it off course, or even downward into the ground. Perhaps if nothing else to lock it into place. If he managed that, he would add a blow at the wrist with his second lakan to try and knock the weapon from his hand and make him drop it.

Though really, he should have recalled it sooner, that you needed to lock the weapon in place, before moving in for the second blow. His first blow had not done that, had simply stopped one arm, and not the one holding a weapon. This time he would not make the same mistake, as he was nagged the fact by his other side, and made sure to not try and attack the Myrian until after stopping his weapon.

by **Razkar** on October 23rd, 2012, 1:46 am

When that right leg jerked back and the Akalak's right arm snapped back to to chop downwards, Razkar knew he was outmatched. His opponent was huge, had reach and power, and his size didn't slow him down an iota. And lets not forget the fact he was wielding two to his one.

The Myrian felt his heart race as a delicious desperation coursed through him.

This was more like it.

The axe smacked into the mat and he jerked it away a moment before the Akalak's own sword crashed down to pin it. Resisting the urge to try for a second swing, Razkar stuck to the plan and hopped backwards, straightening up and putting a good six feet between the two of them. The smile's gone now, though. This was serious business, and the Akalak certainly regarded it as such.

The Myrian cracks his neck from side to side, vertebrae resettling, shaking his left arm a few times to dispel that nagging vibration. Rykanis could hit like an ox, and he was already gearing up for the next attack.

But before that, Razkar had been negligent in one regard.

"Razkar." He said. "My name is Razkar."

And he moved, left foot, fight foot, zigzagging for four steps and raising his ax-hand for a horizontal chop-

A feint.

-he jerked his hand from above and to the right of his head to held close to his chest, closing the distance and exploding it towards the Akalak's sternum.

by **Rykanis Dakshata** on October 23rd, 2012, 2:13 am

Rykanis knew not to underestimate his opponents, even if they were smaller. It was fine for his foes to do that to him, thinking him the average Akalak, or as some thought of them as gentle giants. Whatever, in a fight he would take any advantage he could, even if it was false intel being gathered on himself.

And really, his nature as a spy always came to the forefront. Even in this situation, he was learning facts, trying to pry out more information from his foes, or anyone around him. All the while he was busy fighting, his other side was storing away info for later, memorizing, studying, and listening... Razkar... He would remember the name.

The rest of him though was focused on the fight at hand, at hitting and punching and slashing and doing whatever made him feel alive and ferocious. A small easy smile came onto his lips, as he was enjoying himself, the fight really fun for the moment.

He knocked the axe down with his first lakan, the odd Akalakan curved dagger style weapon, or at least that was the closest thing one could use to describe the unique blade. However he managed to pull away his axe and jump back before Rykanis could pin it or knock it from his grip with his second lakan.

Rykanis totally disregarded the fancy leg movements, all it was in his eyes was motion without purpose, a waste. And a obvious attempt at throwing Rykanis off. He saw were he was going, and would react to it when he did, not on the terms of Razkar's legs.

Finally he was coming at Rykanis, coming is with a chop at the waist, to which Rykanis evaded by bringing in his left lakan to block it, swinging his lakan in to meet with the axe... But it was a feint, thrown at his chest.

Rykanis did the only thing he could do at so close a range, and turned his body, so that instead of offering a flat surface for the blow to go into, the flat front of his chest, he offered a diagonal surface, the side of his chest. Which worked more or less, the punch slid along his side and past him, only a bit of the blow actually hitting him, the rest blowing off and past.

Rykanis sucked in a breath, as the bite of the blow hit him, even lessened as it was, and brought his right lakan down to smash downward at the Myrians shoulder and neck in retribution.

Though that hit to his side would be stinging a bit later. Probably at least one decent bruise to be.

by **Razkar** on October 23rd, 2012, 3:01 am

The Akalak pivoted fast, a smart way to neutralize the true power of Razkar's strike, and bring him closer into the bargain. Without that broad chest to stop his thrust, Razkar over-extended, opponent suddenly at his side, bringing that wooden lakan down hard-

-with no time to block it.

Razkar yelped in pain as the stick hammered onto his shoulder, thanking the Goddess it wasn't the one his wooden ax was attached to. His fingers were suddenly numb, nerveless, blow driving him down to one knee.

He made his play the moment his knee hit the mat, remembering well that the hand ax was, basically, as much a hook as a blade.

Shoulder screaming, ax arm still extended but now low to the ground, he hooked the head of the ax behind the Akalak's left knee, dug in his heels and hurled himself upwards and backwards.

Dragging the Akalak with him, from the back of his knee upwards.

by **Rykanis Dakshata** on October 23rd, 2012, 7:05 pm

A foreseeable consequence, was the Myrian being carried forward by the momentum of his blow, as it blew past him. Really, he should have thought of that, and he was not sure why he did not, he had been in such situations before. But all he could do now was try and do better next time, and make sure he did not make such mistakes in a real fight.

Finally he had scored a real hit, smacking him in the shoulder with his lakan, the shock of the blow running up his arm to make his hand pop open. A sudden thought struck him, that if he had struck the arm holding the weapon, it likely would have been dropped right then, similar to what he had been trying to do earlier by aiming at the wrist. A interesting fact that he noted.

As the Myrian dropped to a knee, he did not stop there, pushing through the pain to counter. He managed to hook his leg while he was down there, and to flop Rykanis back and onto his back. Almost untintenionally, as he was falling backward swept off his feet, he kicked out with his other leg, aiming to kick him in the chest with the leg that had not been hooked, sort of trying to kick him, but also sort of trying to use his chest to push off from, and push him further away as he fell.

If he managed the push/kick, he would fall to the mat on his back, but further away. If it failed, he would fall to the mat right there, at Razkar. Either way, he would bring up his lakan defensively, to fend off and blows, or kick.