|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:25 pm
This is the flat section of the mountain used for all types of weapon and hand to hand combat training. All kittens are required to start training as soon as they can walk. Teens are pushed harder since they have begun to choose the weapon they will fight with through out their life. Moriean was the presiding elder, but none has been choosen to take her place as of yet.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:13 pm
Heart pounding and panting slightly, Delila tossed down a pair of fighting greaves, deciding she wasn't particularly fond of them. It wasn't that she couldn't handle them; only that they felt too bulky and cumbersome to use on a regular basis. She wanted a weapon that felt more...natural. More like an extension of her own body than something added on that didn't fit and felt awkward. That could be a distraction and a distraction could mean unnecessary harm or even have fatal consequences. She thought back to the night of her teen ceremony and the events earlier that evening. Lyka's return from her first patrol and the death of the elder Moriean by a ninja cougar from Dewclaw in particular. Dangerous times were looming for the Quicktalon tribe and it didn't take a mystic to predict that. Even if she never saw action herself, Delila wanted to be prepared for any possibility.
An important part of her preparations would be finding a weapon that felt as comfortable to her as her own claws. She hadn't had much luck in her experimentation thus far in the training area, though she'd tried most of the available training weapons already. Wait...what was that...? A glint of silvery metal from the weapons rack caught her attention and she stepped closer for a better look. A pair of small hunting knives were stabbed deeply into the wood rack holding various sizes of blades and spears, though something about these knives were different. Instead of being short, sturdy-looking blades like typical hunting knives, these blades were longer and thinner, seeming more delicate. They were slightly curved, the sharp edges facing outward, making them good for quick, deep slashes. Delila took hold of one of the knives, tugging forcefully to remove it from the wood. She inspected the blade with an appraising eye, grinning slightly as she realized she liked what she saw. She tugged the other blade free, hefting the twin knives and dropping into a fighting stance.
She was pleased to note how much better these blades felt compared to any other weapon she'd tried so far. But how would they fare in battle? She turned her attention to a bare tree stump at the other end of the training area. Nearly the size of a full-grown cougar, the trunk was used mostly as a target for archers and spear throwers, but if one looked close, both claw and blade marks could be picked out among the gashes in the dead bark.
Within moments, Delila was a black blur, darting across the empty training ground and leaping into the air with a snarl. She landed a solid, flying side kick to the trunk, rebounding and leaping again as soon as her feet hit the ground. This time she spun, using the blades to score a number of deep gashes in the trunk, bits of wood and bark flying in all directions. A sliver of wood bounced off her ear, causing it to twitch as she finally came to an abrupt stop to survey the damage done. She was secretly proud to note the rather impressive new additions to the poor battle-worn tree and looked at the knives in her hands with a new appreciation. Not even a knick on the blades either.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:02 pm
Several cougar-lengths above, Lyka was practicing a falling manuver. She had been given the ability to sink into stone, but by no means was she a shamaness. This required deep concentration, something she didn't have while falling, and something she would need to have if she ever fell again. Taking a deep breath, she leaped off the ledge and concentrated hard. As she began to free-fall the familiar giddiness hit her.
She opened her eyes in surprise when she didn't hit when expected, only to find that she had passed right through the ledge she was aiming for. She hadn't completely righted herself when she landed at the edges of the Quicktalon training grounds, and the thud of impact sounded as if it were mocking her, but she dusted herself off good naturedly.
Lyka looked up in time to see Delila with her new weapons and smirked fondly. It looked as if the teen was getting along fairly well, even with nobody to guide her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 6:28 pm
Delila's ear twitched again as a soft rustle, not unlike the wind through the trees, caught her attention. She knew it wasn't the wind, however. She hadn't figured out how to understand what they were saying yet, but she realized that the shadows had begun trying to speak to her. Though she couldn't decipher anything resembling words, she could tell when they were trying to get her attention at least.
In this case, the shadows warned her of Lyka's arrival even before she hit the ground. Relaxing her stance, she stood tall, not exactly smiling, but nodding politely in the adult's direction. "It has been a while, Lyka. I hope you are well." She twirled the fighting blades idlly, welcoming a break after her long bout of training.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:45 pm
"That I am, Delila. And you? You look as if you've been getting a bit of practice."
Quicktalons trained incessantly from the day they learned to walk to the day they were unable to walk to the training grounds unaided. At Delila's age, it was especially crucial that she experiment with many different weapons, learning them all, but most importantly, finding one to master when she reached adulthood and took her place in the tribe.
The slight vibration in her metal gauntlets from when they had struck the ground moments before brought a smile to her lips as she was reminded of her own weapons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:59 pm
Delila went as far as to chuckle softly. "That obvious, huh? Guess I need more practice then," she quipped, winking with a smirk. She'd started growing more comfortable around Lyka recently, allowing a little of her natural sarcasm to show through. Perhaps she had even started to consider Lyka...dare she say it? A friend.
She twirled the blades casually before sinking them both deeply into the tree with a solid thunk. Hands free again, she stretched out her stiffening muscles, intent on keeping herself moving, even on a break. "I think I've just about used every weapon we have lying around here," she commented, looking over the collection. She'd found a few she liked...and a few she definitely didn't. The fighting staff had probably been her favorite until she found these knives. Something felt so natural about them, like extensions of her own claws. She loved how lightweight they felt as well as how swiftly and effectively they could cause damage. The combination of speed and power was very appealing to the young, ambitious teen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:18 pm
Lyka stretched her shoulder out to its full extention and held it for a moment before bringing it back to her side. She brought her other arm in a wide circle, grinning satisfiedly when the joint cracked loudly and flexed her claws.
"You seem to favor those knives. It's odd, because hardly anyone likes those. Too whippy and cumbersome."
As if answering, the vibrating in her own gauntlets flared slightly before ceasing completely.
"How about a little test run?"
She squared off into a fighting stance and awaited Delila's reply.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:54 pm
Delila smirked in reply. "That's funny. I was about to say the same things about those." She nodded slightly to Lyka's gauntlets. "Now those, I thought were cumbersome. Didn't feel that natural. Too awkward." Smiling, she tugged the knives from deep in the tree, taking quite a bit of effort to do so. "But these...like extensions of my own claws. I think I like them."
She twirled the knives swiftly before taking a tight grip on them, grinning and nodding to Lyka as she dropped into her own fighting stance. "And I think that sounds like a good idea. I could use a little better feedback than a silent tree stump." She started circling the adult slowly, tensed and balanced lightly on her toes, ready to react at the slightest movement. She'd only seen Lyka fight once, and she was sure she had altered and evolved her fighting style since then. She'd have to rely on instinct until she could analyze her opponent's strategy and formulate her own. Now was the time when she could finally test all of her training and studying at last. Would it all have been in vain? Or would she prove that she at least had promise, if not skill as a warrior already?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:00 pm
Lyka smiled confidently. She had been observing Delila for a while now, and although the teen trained mercilessly, even by Quicktalon standards, this would be a good opportunity for both of them to get a bit of semi-practical experiance. Lyka's ears swiveled to follow Delila's movements. So it seemed the teen was a bit attack shy. Knowing that if both of them stayed on the defensive, this might never actually escalate into a fight, Lyka decided to attack first.
She had tried out those blades herself before, and she knew they were thin and flexible, great for speed, but almost useless for straight out blocking. Her best option would be to come in from the side, and possibly aim for the back of her opponent's head, but Lyka decided to deviate from the one-hard-hit strategy that Moriean had taught her. After all, she wanted a friendly spar and it would do no good if Delila were knocked out very quickly.
The blue-grey cougar closed the short distance between them and struck with her forearm in a wide backswing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:31 am
Delila smiled back, senses on high alert for Lyka's first move. She had been tempted to start the attack, but she knew Lyka was a warrior to be reckoned with and she'd rather start on the reactionary side of things, responding to whatever she decided to throw at her. Perhaps once she had a feel for Lyka's fighting style, she might be able to find a way through her defenses.
Suddenly, Lyka darted forward with impressive speed. Delila detected a subtle shift in her weight just before she struck and instinct took over as she dropped to the ground on all fours. The strike had been uncomfortably close and Delila had felt the wind whistle through her fur as Lyka's arm passed by overhead. Immediately, she whirled about, shifting most of her weight to her hands as she aimed a spinning heel kick at the adult's side, hoping to catch her off-balance from her charge.
She still gripped her new blades in her fists, not intending to use them just yet. Just because one had a weapon, most Cougars would assume she would use it. So what better tactic than to fool them by NOT using it? At least not at first. Plus, weapons could always be taken away from you. It was important to know how to fight without a weapon in case the situation arose in which you had to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:09 pm
The beauty of being able to use strong outward strikes was that the momentum twisted her body to face Delila rather than to expose her back as the more natural inward strike would do. She smiled as the teen ducked. Good, she was fast. Going downwards was an unusual move; most cougars liked to move backwards, in which case Lyka would follow them another step and strike with her other hand.
She knocked Delila's kick away with one of her own, letting it glance off her protected shin. Essentially it was a blocking manuver, but if both combatants put enough force into the kicks, her opponent might shatter a leg bone, or worse, if the blades were attatched.
Lyka darted in close, aiming another outward strike for Delila's elbow. At the last second, she flipped her hand over, intending to grab it and pull the teen's body towards her, while running her fingers over the tendons she would have severed, though she kept her claws sheathed. The true cutting power of the thin blades lay in the range four centimeters from the tips, and at such a close proximety, they would be more of a hazard than a help, knocking into each other. Granted, Lyka had to be careful not to impale herself on them either, they also provided a rather prickly defense.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:22 pm
Delila's kick failed to follow through in her spin, halting her inertia awkwardly and nearly throwing her off balance. Hissing, she saw Lyka's arm coming for her again and she leapt backward reflexively, still on all-fours. Her tail lashed to the side, preventing her from losing her balance completely, though she was in an awkward position at the moment.
She growled softly as she felt Lyka's hand close over her wrist, tensing as she predicted the adult would try to close the distance between them. She twisted viciously, trying to break Lyka's hold on her so she could break away and regain her composure. She gripped the knife in her other hand tightly, holding it so that the sharp edge faced outwards from her forearm, using it almost like a reverse blade, ready for either blocking or striking. As she twisted, she rose, throwing a swift roundhouse kick, more for distraction than for true damaging power.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:27 am
Lyka twisted with her opponent as she struggled. Delila's kick flowed with her turning movement and Lyka opted to ignore it and take the hit. The kick made her stumble forwards a step, but she wheeled about, dragging Delila with her. She had missed her elbow, but she had a hold on one of Delila's limbs and she wasn't about to relenquish it. The blade in the captured hand scraped against her gauntlet as the black cougar tried to break her grip, a feat not easily done because Lyka's fingers were strong from climbing. She used her other arm to ward off the free blade and tried a hook kick of her own while pulling her arm backwards and straightening it, trying to knock the teen's body towards her own.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:42 pm
Delila had pretty much abandoned the idea of wrenching her arm free from Lyka's grasp at this point. She was more likely to damage herself in the process anyway, so she'd just have to adapt around this new situation. Just because Lyka had ahold of her didn't mean that Delila couldn't use this to her own advantage.
She brought her free arm up quickly, using her blade as a brace to block the kick. Her blade merely glanced off the climbing grieve, however, and she took the kick solidly on the shoulder rather than to her head. She grunted softly, shifting her weight to absorb as much of the force as she could without injury, sidestepping in the process.
Feeling the sudden tug towards the cloudy blue adult, she acted quickly, twisting her wrist just enough to grab hold of Lyka's forearm, linking the two securely as she pulled back. She gave a sudden furious tug towards herself, throwing a strong sidekick towards the adult's midsection. If only she could manage to knock the wind out of her, Delila might stand a chance to recover just enough to get back in the battle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:28 am
((Um..I though Delila had two knives? Oh well. We'll run with it.))
Lyka grinned when she felt herself being jerked forwards. That was exactly what she wanted. She jumped forwards of her own accord, adding momentum to Delila's pull. The kick caught her directly in the stomache and it knocked the breath out of her but she managed to fold the teen's leg back at the knee with her arm as she hurtled towards her and knocked them both to the ground, pinning the heavy metal bracer to Delila's throat. Although she was rather wiry and nowhere near as heavy as the wild ones, Lyka still weighed substantially more than Delila, and she pressed down with the gauntlet, offering the teen no chance of escape from the smothering weight. Endgame.
She allowed herself a few moments to catch her breath, then pushed herself off the teen and offered a hand to help her up.
"Not bad!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
