Flashback [Tuvya Sasarin] Two worlds collide

[Favchean Hronis]

47th Summer 511.

The quiet of the day seeped into the Tuvya Sasarin, even in here where the padded floors and walls absorbed sounds and all was normally hushed, seemed extra hushed. That might be because it was early morning bells and the child Akalak were still doing their lessons before sent down to practice. This was the time that one very large, and very green Akalak treasured the most.

Favchean was not what you would call an impressive Akalak. He was rather short, being only six foot five inches tall, however his girth was immense. Muscled to the point of being off putting. His hair was laced together in a tight braid that ran from his brow all the way to the middle of his shoulders, but the sides of his scalp shaven clean. His clothing was general wear, much like many Akalak's who preferred durability to fashion they were leather and creased with age.

His body was free from all distinguishing marks, except on his left arm. That mark, a large barely-healed scar that was only visible on such a dark hued male's skin because it was fresh. No more then four or five months old. Sure a Konti healer might have healed the wound without a blemish, his Konti mother had wanted it but he did not. This wound was a trophy, the trophy of a battle that earned him the right to take his father's second name Hronis. A mark that also taught him to be careful, even of dying Zith.

His final rite of passage, to hunt and kill a Zith went well, his Lakan had tasted Zith blood, but in it's dying throes Favchean had gotten careless. The claw on the Zith's foot had sliced his arm open to the bone. It was no matter, he had brought back his proof to the council and he was deemed an adult finally. Now there was one more thing he wanted to bring before the council, his bid to complete his Kuvan testing. That would place a permanent mark on his arm, but for that he must practice and train.

That was what Favchean Hronis was doing in the Tuvya Sasarin this morning, practicing his Kata. A soft sigh is given, and he begins from the first pose. One thick leg is extended, slowly almost in a dance-like quality, his foot placed on the mat. Then that same foot began to bear the brunt of the large green male's weight as he brings his opposite foot up and out extending it into a kick but not fully.

Each movement is slow, and disciplined. Precise in the placement of both arm and leg, someone who did not understand the art of unarmed combat might think the man looked silly, or even graceful for someone his size. However it was not intended to be deadly or overpowering at the moment, simply muscle memory.

[Kaie]

Try as he may, Keritan could not keep his daughter from exploring the brand new world he had introduced her to. She had stuck close to his side for the entirely of the day prior. This day, however, the young Myrian woman had begun to tug at the end of leash. Sooner or later it would give. When it did, Kaie had thrust herself into the unknown world of colored bodies to find what peculiarities sat waiting. For the most part she was confused. Riverfall was nothing like Taloba. All hopes of navigating through common familiarity was shot down at once. How could she have dared expect different from a city whose home was not the jungle?

After much wandering throughout the stony abode of domed buildings, Kaie finally came to a stop before one in particular. There was something about it that sung to her. Maybe it was the nice change to wood found nearby or the aroma that accompanied it. Regardless of whether the attraction was physical or otherwise, Kaie was compelled to approach. What awaited her behind those sliding doors marked with foreign symbols was not what was expected.

Sweat and the sweetness of a Riverfall incense. It was the smell of hard work combined with eloquence. Taloba's perfume was something far closer to perspiration and blood, for their grounds were always in preparation for eminent war. The ongoing war. The scent of the strange building of film covered windows and an overwhelming quiet, was just as foreign to the Myrian as Tukant. The nature of the combat arts were not. That is where Kaie found her center and her confidence to carefully watch.

The target of interest at that moment was a man of green. Stocky, muscular, and impressively well put together. A strong male of great focus, that much the Myrian could gather. Yet a man of such advantages was slow moving. Balanced. He was paying attention to the tiniest details with precision. His body language conveyed the idea his practice was a precious art. There was little intensity. No outright fierceness in his actions.

Do all Akalaks fight and train like this man? And what Queen sits in the chair along the far wall?

"Cannot move fast when train slow," Kaie said evenly in Common harshened by her accent. The cloud about her was fearless and self assured. The words spoken passively, seeming to speak verbatim from a past training session than anything else. Pink lips upturned in a faint, crooked smile. Brown eyes seemed to glow with perplexity. They flickered up and down the leaf-colored man. Searching for answers that observation alone could not muster forth.

There was no confusion over her heritage. With sun kissed skin, loincloth, and single buttoned leather vest, anyone with eyes could see she was not native to Riverfall. Perhaps it's fair to say just by speaking openly in a world she did not yet understand was risky. Reckless even.

[Favchean Hronis]

The Akalak might have seemed like he focused all his attention inward, for when the woman slipped in he didn't hesitate nor show any sign of her presence. Indeed his icy blue eyes that were only icy in color not in warmth, held the slightly unfocused glaze that one in deep meditation held. However he was self aware enough to know the feeling of being watched, though he didn't stop his Kata to acknowledge the new presence. At first he assumed it was one of the Masters, and they would not be amused if he stopped mid stride just to greet them. Precision, discipline, and control was the mantra of Favchean, from morning to evening. It prevented him from losing the fearsome temper that few ever seen from an Akalak, it prevented him from being marked Cerulean.

When she spoke was the first time he showed any sign that he was aware of her presence, and that was shown in just the hairsbreadth of hesitation. He waits until the final pose is given, then as if she hadn't spoken, as if he had all the time in the world he draws himself up. Turning towards her, he cocked his head to the side and focused the pale eyes on her. Taking in her garb, from foot to head his brow furrows. Humanoid, there were many races that were, did not mean she was human.

She spoke as if she was familiar with the unarmed discipline, and from the look of her body -that he could see a fair bit of- she could very well possibly practice the arts. "Sometimes speed is called for, more often thought prevails. Rarely both at the same time." Favchean crosses his arms across his broad chest, angling one brow over his eye. Though with the dark hue of his skin tone she might not have even been able to distinguish the black brow from skin. "The Kata is not a demonstration of battle prowess, but a muscle memory..so when speed needs to prevail the mind does not need to keep up."

She intrigued him, simply because of her apparent interest in the training. Few women that he had a chance to run into was interested in the unarmed discipline. They seemed more often then not wanting him to teach them to dance with daggers. Perhaps it is because of their frail bodies, that they wished to reinforce their prowess with steel. For Favchean his body was his weapon, he learned the Dagger for skill to use his Lakan with and as a good side skill. "You aren't from around here." This last is said with out question but also without malice. She was female, she wasn't zith or Symenestra and thus she already garnered his respect. Her ability to do the one thing no true Akalak could ever do, grow and nurture life within her body, was something that both fascinated Favchean and awed him. "Have you come to learn?"

[Kaie]

When first spoken, she had felt like breaking the cool silence of the environment was a detrimental sin in itself. As if there was some god or goddess she had deeply wronged just but invading the tranquility she had discovered. For a few moments she felt uncomfortable. Foreign as could be, waiting for the colored man to notice her at all. He had seemed so peaceful, so collected, which made her feel no better that she had interrupted that as well. It appeared she simply couldn't have helped herself.

When the male had finally eased himself from the depths of his concentration, he seemed to study her like a confused animal. No doubt he was taking in what was before him. Observing what creature had seemed to challenge his practice, harmless as it was. He gave no hint as to what his reaction to her presence might be. All she found from his expression was the furrowing of his brow. That could mean a large variety of things. Naturally her muscles tensed beneath her tanned hide just in case there was an offense.

Much to her relief, she was met with a relatively calm reply. A knowledgeable at that, too. It took her a bit to rearrange and translate the words from Common to Myrian in her head, but she seemed to comprehend the basis of the message. He spoke of something odd. Something new. "Kata." Some of the more complex words were lost upon her. Luckily she had been taught to link understanding via context clues.

Kata. Is that what he calls that thing he was doing?

"Ah. Yes. Practice how perform. Trainers say, 'sweat more in training, bleed less on field,'" She replied a bit shakily at first, brow pulling together as she strung the correct words together. If all went well, he would be able to pick out her message through the roughness of her native accent. "Kaie believe learn through muscle more important than mind. When all gets...Intense...Body remember what brain not." She continued, doing her best to voice her agreement with the man. She hadn't had many one-on-one conversations with a barbarian in another tongue. Goddess only knows whether her grandmother would've been applauding her efforts or reaching for a branch to smack her with.

"No. Kaie is Myrian from Falyndar," The woman explained more confidently than before. This question she knew positively how to answer. Her right hand immediately flew to prod her chest when she voiced her name. "I" was not a concept she had discovered quite yet. "Yes. Come to learn how Akalak fight different from Myrians in Taloba. Thing you were just doing. You call it Kata, yes? Why train Kata alone? Don't you need a spar partner?"

Now it was her turn to be a bit questionable. Head turned a slightly to the side, her eyes scanned the empty building skeptically. It had been on odd sight for her. All of it seemed wrong. There were no grunts, snarls, and yowls echoing from every corner of the room like there should've been. No shouting superiors drilling those who came to learn into the floor, growling insults in their ears. It was all too...Civil.

OOCSorry for the wait! I got caught up during the Holidays!

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean never relaxed his stance, instead he rocked back on his heels just a little so that he could continue to assess the woman, hopefully without her noticing though he is not used to needing such subterfuge. The women he normally was used to dealing with were the small petite Konti, humans and of course the kelvics that were kept around the city. The occasional other races drifted through but those were the vast majority. While Konti could be very fierce in their own right, it almost always tended to be a self defense fierceness at least amongst the Konti he knew. Perhaps there was a band of Konti women out there slashing and hacking apart people, but even the thought made a grin chase across the green Akalak's face.

No, this one was by far the most ...exotic female that he had encountered and it intrigued him. She had a stance about her, a preparedness that was screamed by the way her muscles tensed and moved -and the fact that she wore less in the way of clothing then many women he knew made that too easy for him to tell that!. He tried hard to keep his eyes respectfully off her legs, cocking his head a little to help him do so.

A bark of laughter is given when she speaks of shedding sweat in practice prevents more blood in combat. It was exceedingly true statement, and one that he fully intended to remember. "Kaie, that is your name? My name is Favchean Hronis." The introduction given, with a simple bending of his neck toward her, a soft lowering of his head. "Yes the Kata. The Kata is just the base movements of one's body. A way of learning the different strikes to give so that your muscles know. It is also a way of clearing one's mind.'

As Favchean spoke his hands gestured, pointing to his head when he spoke of the mind, his arms when he spoke of muscle. All this was an unconscious reaction to her broken common, for in a city like Riverfall such thing is common with all the different races that mingled here. "Kata is used in sparring, combat differently then what you saw here. Kata makes your muscles limber and strong, but in such things the Kata is just the very base." He tilted his head once more, his eyes the color of ice sliding down her frame once more. One brow raised, "Do you often spar?"

[Kaie]

The Myrian nodded in agreement with his question, confirming that was indeed her title. His name was much more exotic by her terms. It was long. Many syllables. Even if she was great with the barbarian alphabet, she doubted she would've been able to hammer down the spelling just right. Yet the specifics of his foreign name were lost the moment he went back to speaking of the Kata. From her understanding of his words, it was some sort of style that completely contrasted her own. While her tactics and training were centered around speed, aggression, and muscle memory, his seemed to revolve around focus, slow repetition, and meditation. Was that to imply while her clan's war parties painted themselves in terrifying colors and hooted obscenities during the fire dances, the Akalak were standing calm as swans in meditation?

At least he did point out his practice was practical. It made them strong and flexible, working with muscle memory in a way differently than she did. Perhaps what he meant by "base" was that all advanced learning sprung from that fine art. It was the foundation like branches shooting from the trunk of a tree.

"Yes, spar often. Spar daily usually. Fight with clan, in arena, and with trainer. Not learn and prac-tise with Kata though," Kaie answered gleefully, crossing her arms with a grin upon her lips. It would appear the very notion of mock battles alone could please her."You say Kata spar is different. Maybe you show Kaie?"

[Favchean Hronis]

Favchean finally uncrossed his arms, and placed them on his hips but not before scratching at the healed scar on his arm. This stance displayed his thickness, something that he unconsciously did now since he topped out short for an Akalak. At six foot five he used to feel as if he had to compensate for being on the shorter spectrum. Now that he was older he understood that height didn't make too much difference and no longer felt self-conscious, but habits are hard to break.

Her words at first amused him, it sounded an awful lot like she was challenging him to spar with her. After a few ticks he realized she was asking him to spar with her and he blinked with surprise. He liked the fierceness in her eyes that lit when she spoke of sparring, did he not also have the same deep enjoyment of the physical fight? No it was not the fact that she didn't seem to have any trepidation in challenging a man that was almost a good foot taller then she. Perhaps she was not also aware that an Akalak had a good bit more inborn strength natural to their race?

No he couldn't run the risk of damaging her, she looked to the Akalak's eyes a form of human ...if not a strange little human...perhaps not quite human? Either way she was female and he saw no reason to endanger her well being. "If you would like I can call one of my brethren in here and we can spar so you can see how the Kata translates into sparring?" Favchean offered kindly, with not an ounce of condescension in his voice. He truly felt respect in his heart for her desire and courage, he just felt it was misplaced. She was, after all, so much smaller then he and truly looked quite frail next to his massive girth.

*grins* :

I am looking forward to Kaie ...disabusing Favchean of his notions that she is frail or dainty...

[Kaie]

Quite honestly, Kaie wasn't too sure how to react at all. The Myrian girl had studied his features intently upon popping the question and the aftermath was not at all to her liking. Though subtle, she noted the flicker of shock that shot across his features momentarily. That alone raised more questions than answers both about the man and his culture. Why was it that he seemed to surprised she would ask such a question? Was it because she was Myrian, or younger and smaller than he was? Or perhaps it was because had violated some odd custom she was oblivious to? None seemed to quite fit exactly to be a logical explanation. Yet when Kaie recalled a previous warning from her father, a combination of both suppressed fury and frustration affected her pride momentarily.

The offer to demonstrate with one of his own was enough for emotion on the matter to register in her expression. Frankly, Kaie wasn't sure whether she should be wildly offended he would even make such an offer. That was all assuming the barbarians really did see women as inferior here.

"No. Would not like. Kaie learn by doing better than seeing," She replied coolly with a questioning arch to her brow, almost daring him to refuse her again. Favchean had proven himself a polite companion thus far even when he had unknowingly taken a stab at her pride. That alone prevented the Myrian from losing her temper and led her down a road toward more acceptable behavior.

She wandered over to him calmly with a combination of both curiosity and excitement. Kaie made no hesitation in planting herself before him and sinking back into a combat ready position. Squaring up to him with her legs spread almost shoulder width, knees bent, elbows close, hands up, and head low, her intentions were rather clear as day. "Come on. Show me what make Kata so good. Ready when you are," She challenged with a wry grin, balancing more on the balls of her feet then expectantly. A sparkle had entered her eyes at the sheer thrill of the entire experience. If it came down to it, she'd hit him first if he didn't make a move soon.

[Favchean Hronis]

When she spoke again of him actually sparring with her, he tilted his head and let his arms fall from his waist to hang by his side. Blue eyes narrow as she moved in to the room, and it is pure instinct that has him falling back into his own defensive stance when she assumed hers. In fact, it was so instinctive that it actually surprised him to find that his legs were set apart, the right a little behind his left, and his arms raising in defense. This was silly! He couldn't really spar with a female, he would show them how to use the Kata. He would show them how to block a punch or kick, or to throw one. But to actively seek out to damage one, he didn't think so.

Yet when she spoke again, this time in open challenge, the Akalak within him sprung to life. The challenge had been issued, even if it was by a small woman, and a challenge could not be denied. The spark in her eye was matched by his own, and on some level that spark in her eye aroused more then just the thrill of a challenge in his body. It also had his dark brother howling in the back of his mind, urging him on.

"Very well then..Kaie. We shall dance.." He said, no longer tempering the timbre of his voice, and allowed his deep throaty growl that came so naturally to fill the space. He determined that he would take it easy on the small girl, he didn't want to break her.

So when he leaped into action his punches were pulled, and his motions just a little slowed. The first combination he tried was a quick upper cut with his left arm, barely even registering if he connected with her chin or not before moving forward to sweep his right leg out and up. If he connected then it would serve as a potential obstacle for her to trip over on her way back, if he missed then he could continue the sweep to attempt to knock her from her feet.

[Kaie]

Damn straight!

Now there was a ghost of a smile that floated at the corner of her lip, threatening to break into that crooked smile she always seemed to wear. For now though, it was all business. With her expression pragmatic, eyes ablaze in their fiery intensity, and muscles tensing at the very notion of a battle, the Myrian was ready to go. Just as it went with every training session and test of skill, Kaie would strive for success. She would either achieve greatness or struggle until she could no more. Failure was not an option she welcomed. Not in the presence of an Akalak that seems to unconsciously look down upon her. No, this time she really did have something to prove.

"Goddess Queen, see your daughter across the Suvan sea in this strange city. Help me use your blessing to find victory against this barbarian, for this is the first of many battles to be waged against a heathen," She murmured low in her own native tongue to herself just before she noticed the telltale flexing of Favchean's bicep. The moment her prayer had ended, the curtain was drawn and the show was on. This was her stage.

The Kata was something entirely foreign to her. She knew not of its ways, and certainly she knew nothing about the style. How would she be able to guess what crazy thing he might do when she didn't even understand the nature of the movements? Essentially, Kaie had strutted in blindly. The logical solution would be to test him. To see what kind of throws and maneuvers to expect. And that's exactly what she did.

As she noticed the sudden tightening of his arm muscle, Kaie's eyes widened in a natural panic. Her test was simple. Instead of braving whatever he had in store, the Myrian backed off. With her hands up, the woman back pedaled quickly away from him. In that space suddenly created, she watched the uppercut slice through the air with precision. It was a shame, really. Had she stayed in close she might've been able to counter with a straight punch to the face. The Myrian pursed her lips with the new information, a bit peeved she missed the chance to inflict damage.

Yet just before she eased back in to have a go, Favchean capitalized his last attempt with a kick. Suddenly, she was relieved and a bit thankful she had indeed made the decision to evaluate first. Yet now she knew. Kaie saw his speed, his agility, and his flexibility. There would be no more backing up. She was too headstrong for that. There was naught else to do but move forward.

"Shyke!" She hissed to herself in response to his clever combo. If she was lucky, she'd find a way to avoid getting her ass kicked next time she was in the way. Yet wasn't that the thrill of it all?

Kaie eased in with a new found sense of confidence in herself and what she was doing. Still in her defensive position, it was time to take a more offensive turn. So she moved in. The Myrian feigned left in a stutter step before lunging right to fade toward his side. Meanwhile, her right fist swung in at his jaw in a quick hook. Whether she landed it or not wasn't her concern. The moment her punch was complete, she would bring her hand back to her guard and exit toward his back. Unless she was inhibited, Kaie would throw a low roundhouse toward the back of his knee for good measure.


OOC:And so it begins!