Solo Fighting like a snake.

[Licearsvansan]

Summer 43rd year 513

Summer was undoubtably Svan's favorite season of the year. While Spring was certainly a welcome sight after the dreaded season of winter, it was nothing when compared to summer. Of course not even this season was without any faults though. While Svan tended to like it hot, it was easy to forget that there was also too hot. A cold snake usually would only die if he remained in freezing temperatures for several days, but a hot one could die within chimes if left exposed. On days like those Svan spent the sunlight hours resting under the cover of shade or hunting for fish in the sea. Since he possesed little skill in the art of hunting and lacked a constrictor's more streamline body he rarely caught anything, but the feeling of cool water on his heated scales was always a pleasent feeling. Days spent weaving carefree through the water were some of the most relaxing times of Svan's life. When he was submerged he felt as if all the fire within him had been chased away, and for once in his life he could finally rest.

But not for long. If he stayed in the water too long he would grow cold, and Svan was too much a fan of the heat to allow such feelings to keep hold over him for long.

Today was one of those hot days. The kind where Syna beamed down on Mizahar with all her might, and drove nasty little snakes like Svan into the water. The snake was currently a decent distance from the shore and coasting on the waves with his belly to the sky. He was naked and in his human form now after having swam for at least two bells in his snake form. He had begun to grow cold again so he had decided it was time for some good old fashion sunbathing. As the snake drifted limply over the water his mind wandered free. Any one thought was dificult to hold in this state, but only because as he reached for one a thousand more appeared. Some might consider it frusterating, but he saw it as fun. It was rare that he was able to let his mind roam so openly. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end and Svan's 'meditation' collapsed abruptly the moment a certain half Dhani flashed through his mind. He had only met her for a bit, but his memory of her was still burned in his head. After all, how could he forget a fellow follower of Caiyha like her. Immediatelly Svan was struck with guilt at his own lethargy. Here he was drifting as if he didn't have care in the world when he still had so many things to work on.

The snake righten himself, took a breath, and dove underwater. When he emerged half a chime later he was in the shape of a snake. His eyes locked onto the far off coast, and his heart burned with vigor.

Tonight he would train.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan walked out into the strange mountainous land that was the misty peaks in what he considered little clothing. Night had nearly fallen, and the sky was painted in bright purples and reds. As the snake pulled himself up a rocky ledge with his wiry fingers his face was met with a breeze of warm air. Night had yet to come and steal away the warmth of Syna's light, and even when it did some heat would still remain. Svan smiled as he pulled his legs over a rough ledge, and turned his body so that he faced the setting sun. On hot days like these Svan spent his the daylight relaxing, but at night he was just as active as any other man in Lhavit. Without the fear of overheating, Svan let the heat radiating in the air travel through him like fire. His body was practically alight with energy that was just begging to be used.

And use it he would. Twisting his body around so that his stomach faced the earth, Svan crouched over his feet and lifted himself up. His hair waved silently in the breeze, and he lifted a hand to brush it out of his eyes. Making a light mental note to cut his hair later Svan continued on deeper into the wilderness.

...

After several chimes of wandering, a good deal of climbing, and more falling than he would have liked, Svan stopped. The snake surveyed the land around him and deemed it even and open enough to begin his training. The grounds were comprised mostly out of rocky soil at this point, though a few reblious thickets of grass grew defiantly here and there. The rocky face of a 5 meter cliff formed a wall to this little site, and a thin veil of trees formed a second border in the oposite direction. As the the snake moved further into his new training ground he felt the crunch of gravel beneath his boots. Halfway in to the clearing the serpent knelt down and brushed his hand over the ground. A content smile fromed on his lips. Years of erosion had polished these stones until the point where they were almost smooth. Svan figured that it was due to the erosion caused by the wind bouncing off the face of the cliff, but as he looked up he reached a second conclusion. The center of the cliff dipped downwards like the lip of a jug, and the ground beneath it sloped ever so gently towards a point that ran down its middle. A small stream of rain water likely ran down this path when it showered. That snake noted that his new found training ground would likely be flooded after heavy storms.

With the land properly examined, the snake took off his bag and began to strip. Then, he let the morph take over. Bones rearanged, and muscles fused. His skin browned and scales grew like tiny plates across his skin. As the transformation finished Svan winded his dhani body up, and sat on his own coils like a seat. His eye flicked over to his bag, and his hand lifted the flap just high enough so that it could dive in and withdraw his sword breaker. The item still felt like a foriegn object to him, but when he held it in his left hand there was something about it that just felt....right. He gripped the weapon loosely with his left, and rested the blade upon his lap. Breathing slowly he let his mind sink into the pasts and recover the many ignored lessons his father had given him. He remained frozen for several chimes and was twice distracted by the sweet scent of wild flowers in the distance, but after what seemed like an eternity he was ready. Almost in a trance Svan lifted himself up to 'stand', and began moving his blade in smooth rythmic motions. First, he punched his left fist towards the sky with the teeth of his breaker facing his imaginary foe. Such a move was designed not to strike the enemy, but rather to block and catch the enemy's weapon within the grooves of his own. Then as the blade reached the hight of its ascent the Dhani twisted his his wrist so that the butt of his weapon pointed to the ground in the same way he had seen his father do a hundred times. It was a humorous pose to strike mid-fight, but a practical one. All alone and with no sparing partner his it seemed as if he were sticking his sword to the heavens, and striking a victory pose. However, by this point any blade caught with the earlier technique would be locked in. And rendered nearly useless.

Suddenly the snake flinched as a memory washed over him. He was lying on the ground and clutching his chest after having been only moments before in the exact position that Svan found himself in at present. His father stood over him with a smug grin and spoke in his usual booming voice, "Don't get cocky just because you caught an enemy's weapon. Unless you're fighting a cripple you still have another arm to deal with." His father unclenched the fist after having struck his son square in the chest during one of Svan's mandatory 'sparring' matches with his father, "What if I had a dagger right then. Your guts would be lining the floor right now."

Reflecting on it Svan decided that a dagger would not have made the blow he sustained that day any better. He had walked away from that match with what must have been three cracked ribs and a several tenderized internal organs. Abuse aside Svan's father had taught Svan a good lesson. The goal of one who wielded a sword breaker was to open up his enemy to further strikes, not simply restrain his weapon. Mimicking his father, Svan delivered an uppercut with his right hand. Such a blow would likely force a target to bend over if it hit, or weaken their balance if they dodged it. He then scooted back a little, and drove his sword down to his right thigh. The sharper edge of his weapon faced his imaginary foe, and teeth of his blade faced the ground to his right. The serpent paused for a moment to feel out his movements. The next part was critical because it allowed the enemy to take a swipe at his lower body if not done properly. Svan twisted his wrist to unlock his foe's weapon, and then in one slow fluid motion he slashed the balde across his body from hip to elbow. As he did so he slowly pushed his body to his right to dodge, or at least minimize, any attack his opponent might try. However, the technique didn't end there. He was a snake and his father had told him that one motion was meant to lead to the next without pause. Carrying the momentum of his strike Svan twisted the top third of his body upside down in the way only a serpent can. With his flexible neck and naturally large scope of vision the snake kept his gaze fixed on his invisible target, and blade readied to defend himself even as he turned his back to his foe. As he began to twist a full 360 degrees he retreaded and coiled himself tight. Then, just as he face his foe again he lashed out with a lunging stab. It was the crescendo to a fairly impressive technique. Svan was not left handed like his father and so his movements when he wielded the blade in his left were ridiculously slow, his strength was weaker than his right, and his accuracy was nothing short of abominable. However, Svan had seen his father training with sword breaker in his left hand for nearly a century, and so when he held the blade in his own left hand he was better able to mimic the movements, albeit a great deal slower.

Svan was proud of himself. While he had paused twice to remember the proper form, he had managed to keep a fairly fluid motion and complete the entire technique without screwing it up. Well...almost. Svan was lying on the ground with his sword breaker roughly 3 meters ahead of him and buried into the dirt. Not only had the serpent lost his balance by over committing his weight, he had accidentally kept such a loose grip on his weapon that it flew from his grip when he tried to stop the lunge. With a groan the snake picked himself up and slithered over to the blade. His right hand wrapped around the blade and he mentally prepared himself to try mimicking the move in his dominate hand.

As he picked a piece of gravel off his scale the snake grumbled softly, "Its gonna be a one of those nights isn't it."

[Licearsvansan]

This whole training in the wilderness thing had been a surprisingly enlightening experience for Svan. Being here with nature all around him had offered him a knew perspective of the world. Namely of the upside-down variety.

The snake was currently dangling from a tree, and all the blood in his body seemed to be rushing to fill his head. He doubted that anyone would believe him if he said that he was practicing his skill with the sword-breaker when he got in this position, but it was the truth. By some miracle he had managed to get his sword caught in the top of the tree, and now he had to climb up to get it. The base of the tree had been easy to climb, but the limbs of the tree grew weaker as they rose in height and one flimsy branch had broken beneath him when he put a little too much weight on it. The result of course was his current situation.

Svan lifted his head up and let the blood return to his heart before releasing the branch he was holding onto and grabbing for another. His hand caught its target and slowly but surely he made his way up the tree. As he neared the blade he began to hear the creak of wood beneath him. In a panic Svan abandoned the branch that had made the sound, and lept with his arm towards the blade. He caught hold of the blade, but quickly realized his error in leaving his previous branch. The one he had left remained perfectly in tact, at least from the outside. Making it even worse was the fact that his extra weight had bent the two branched that the weapon was resting on just enough for the weapon to begin sliding to the far edge of the branch were a 20 foot fall awaited both the snake and his weapon. "No, no, no, no-" Thunk. The blade stopped sliding and Svan looked up to see that one side had gotten caught on a small knot in the bark. Svan let out a sigh of relief and was instantly met with the feeling of sliding again. Returning his gaze to the blade he realized that while one side was struck, the other was just barely being kept stable. Any plans of using his tail to catch onto another branch was quickly falling apart. "Well....petch you too tree." Svan wasn't sure what exactly what came next, but he knew one thing.

It was going to hurt.

[Licearsvansan]

He must have been hanging for five bells. Well, at least that is what it seemed like to Svan. He had long since stopped keeping tack of how much time had passed as it only served to remind him how tired he should be. His arms felt like jelly and his grip remained only because it would have taken too much energy to unhinge his fingers. Had he been human the would have been a pond of sweat beneath his tail to soften his landing. Sadly, there was nothing but hard, cruel rock below.

"Help?" He called out for the 8th time this chime. His voice was met with nothing more than the howl of the wind and a soft sounds of the local fauna. The snake let out a disappointed breath stared down at the ground. The fall wouldn't kill him but it would sure as petch hurt. Unfortunately, it was his only way down, and if he stayed in this tree any longer his fingers would fall off from the lack of blood. He scanned his surroundings and concluded that there were two ways he could get down safely. The first would be to use his tail to hit the ground first and break his fall. The second was to grab onto the branches, and slowly climb his way back down. Considering the fact that the second way down sounded much more realistic he decided it would be best. With that plan in mind he snapped his tail towards his chest and the momentum of the movement hopped both he and his sword up and off the branch. His grip on the sword was released and his arms shot out towards the closest branch beneath him. Weary fingers wrapped around the branch and Svan smiled a triumphant grin. That immediately sank into a look of horror as the branch slid from his finger. He hadn't realized just how little strength his arms had left, but the realization struck him as hard as the branch he soon fond himself landing on. The snake coughed and let himself dangle limply with his body hung over a large bark arm near the base of the tree. With the majority of his mass hanging over the side with his tail he slowly began to slide of the branch and his body was poured into an unruly mass of coils on the ground.

"Ow." The snake groaned as he lifted himself up slowly. As he regained his composure he used the last of the strength in his arms to flip off the tree with both fingers. Having properly insulted the flora, Svan slithered over to his weapon and stared at it angrily. "This is all your fault you know?" he reached down to grab the sword, but the blade slid easily out of his weak grip. "Perfect. Just petching perfect. Now how am I supposed to train. What, should I practice my angry looks? Cause I sure as petch don't have any problem giving them to you ya over grown twig!" Svan glared at the tree he had so recently fallen from, before giving up his anger and shaking his head in shame. "Thats right Svan, take out our anger on the tree. Because it obviously knows what an insult is." Svan moved over to the rockwall and started softly leaned his head against it. "Note to self, remember to someday learn how to better use tail. It would have been helpful if I could have caught myself with it in that tree." There was a long pause as Svan stood with his head propping up his body against the wall before he suddenly hopped up his head and smashed it against the rock. "Idiot!" The snake withdrew himself from the cliff and shook his rattle.

"Why in the petch wouldn't I just learn how to do it now?"

[Licearsvansan]

Tripoding his head off the wall, Svan forced himself away. His arms still hung limply at his sides, but he wouldn't need them right now. He considered shifting into his snake form to get rid of the currently useless limbs, but his weight was distributed differently in that form. His Dhani form was the one he used for combat, and it was more important to learn the balance in this one that his snake seeming.

Slowly Svan began to circle around himself until his tail was between his face and the side of the cliff. He flicked the tip of his tail once, and a short booming rattle noise sounded out. He frowned there was absolutely nothing subtle about using a rock hard maraca as a weapon. Still, he remembered from his days in the nest that the tip of a rattler's tail held his strongest muscles. In fact, the muscles in a rattlesnake's tail were perhaps the fastest moving muscles out of the entire animal kingdom. Not only that, but he could continuously shake his tail for over an hour without even getting tired. The problem? Svan couldn't fight the urge to keep it from shaking once her started. He could give a light twitch without the need to continue shaking it, but anything more and instinct just took over.

Svan twitch his tail a bit harder and against his wishes his rattle twitched back and forth a few extra times. The noise it made was tremendous. Svan groaned and glared angrily at his tail. It was no wonder snakes in the wild didn't use their tails as weapons. It was petching hard! Sure Svan could swing his entire tail hard enough to knock out a man, but he had seen some rattlers snap the tips of their tails just as a swing came to meet its mark. Their tails cracked less like a rattle and more like a whip then, and the force that it created...Svan had once seen a skilled Dhani shatter a rock with a single swing.

Suddenly an idea struck Svan and he readied his entire tail to strike. Al at once he lashed it out against the stone wall, and just before it hit Svan tried to snap the tip.

Rattle, thump. "Petch!"

His tail had not only rattled hard enough to wake the dead, it had actually reduced the force of the blow by twitching back when he wanted it to go forward. Not one be defeated Svan, The snake readied his tail once again and lashed out. Rattle-thump, Rattle-thwak, Rattle-crack. Svan was getting closer, but exhaustion was getting to him. He may have only used his arms earlier, but he had done it for so long that his entire body felt drained. One more. Just one good one, he told himself mentally. His body curled up and his tail pulled back, ready to lash out a final time. Svan stood still for a tick, gathering his will power, and then, like lightning his tail flew forward. Just before it kissed the rock Svan twisted the tip of his tail and, CRACK! A handful of rock blasted out from beneath Svan's tail.

"Yes! Yes! Ye-Guaaaaah cramp!" the snakes tired hands instantly lept out to grab the tip of his tail and straighten it. Which proved nearly impossible since his tail was much stronger than his fingers. At least for the moment. In the end Svan started smacking his tail against the ground until the cramp undid itself, and his tail reluctantly returned to its original position. He grinned like a fool as the pain passed, and looked back up towards the cliff. He considered, for the briefest of seconds, trying it again, but before he could even give it a second thought a loud roar sounded in the wilderness behind him. Immediately the snake remembered the danger of exhausting himself completely when there was no one else to protect him. Instead of pushing himself too far beyond his limits, the snake decided to return to the city while he still had energy left to run. He looked the place over one last time on his way out. He would be back.

Hazel eyes flicked over to his now heavily damaged rattle. Though perhaps only once his scales returned.

[Elysium]

Svan
because I refuse to type out your full name

Experience
Weapon: Sword Breaker +3
Unarmed +2
Climbing +3
Observation +2

Lore
The Misty Peaks: Secret Training Spot
Climbing: Using Leverage
How to Fall From a Tree
Sword Breaker: Follow Up
Unarmed: Utilizing the Tail

Notes
Svan is at it again. This was an amusing training solo, to be sure! I was tempted to give you the lore, Achievement Unlocked: Which Way is Up? Of course, that'd be a very silly lore. Keep up the good work and if you have any questions, shoot me a PM.

and so, the journey continues...