[1v1] In the Search for Improvement (Cearney/Davyne)

[Ephebe]

The gym had practically become her second home as of lately, and once again Davyne was found there, on the prowl for a sparring partner as she was wont to be.

She'd run through the whole gamut by now; spars that were over in two hits, spars that never seemed to end... and still she felt that there was much for her to learn in the art of fighting.

And also, perhaps, honing her battle skills kept her mind off of other matters. A little bit of time in which nothing was complicated and everything had only one purpose; to win the fight.

There were many things that she dwelled on lately - it was, she was beginning to realise, difficult to not have someone with whom to turn over these matters. Still, she would not budge; surely if she put her mind to it she could sort things out herself. And it was not like she was entirely alone.

But that was no matter; she was here to forget, for the moment, not ruminate on her life. With that in mind, she veered towards the first person she saw, stopping in front of them and saying in a formal tone; "hello - would you like to spar with me?"

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Usually, the leprechaun would prefer to make others fight for him.

The school administration had told him in no short order though that no matter what contractual agreement he contrived with some oblivious monster, they wouldn't let him just have a monster fight for him. He wasn't sure why, considering such agreement would show mastery of a battle without even fighting, but...

Needless to say, Cearney found himself in the gym.

He looked a but dorky, wearing a sweatband, arm bands, leg bands, and a white t-shirt with shorts, but there was no way he was getting one of his suits messed up for this. Hopefully no demons would catch him in here. He was fairly sure he'd burst into flames...

Ah, good. A reaper.

"Isn't that why creeple come here?" Despite his snarking, he adjusted his sweatband a bit and got himself ready for a spar. Or at least, he guesstimated what that involved. "Aye, we can spar, whatever y'want."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Not all," she responded. "Some come to practice by themselves, as well." At least that was what some of the creeple she'd been turned down by had said; she had seen some practicing alone as well, and had briefly considered the idea herself - but practicing alone could not teach one how to behave and react in a real battle as well as a spar would and so she had nixed that idea.

To his agreement to spar she gave a nod and then a query; "who should begin?"

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Could he practice by himself and still gain credit? An interesting theory. He'd have to ask the administration if that would count towards the requirement...

Who should start? An interesting question. To some, it would seem the better choice to start and gain the upper hand early. To others, getting to observe their opponent's behaviour would let them better survey their next move. What camp would he be in today?

The one that waited and watched, of course.

"You can."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"I shall commence attacking in 10 seconds then," Davyne inclined her head before summoning her whip, giving it a sharp crack on the floor just to test the handling. It was satisfactory, though as always it would be up to her and not the whip - she was well aware that it was simply a tool for her abilities, nothing more. It was hers however and she was determined to learn how to handle it properly.

Idle contemplation as she counted down the ten seconds - then, countdown finished, she moved towards her opponent and lashed out at the same time in one nimble motion. She was more confident doing so than she'd been the previous times she'd tried this maneuver, but despite that still did not manage to hit her target.

((HP: 30 / 30
Dmg: 0 ))

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Commence attacking in ten seconds? Who talked like that? Was she some kind of fancy reaper?

Nevertheless, Cearney would wait, watching as she summoned her weapon and her movements to attack him. He nodded as if he understood this (he probably didn't, all things considered). In fact, he kept nodding, a bit like a broken golem for a few seconds.

And then he said, "Try that again?" because he wasn't done watching yet obviously.

HP: 30/30
Damage: nah

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

She did as he asked, attempting the attack one more time to exactly the same result. Puzzled, she looked down at her whip and murmured, "I thought I was getting the hang of this."

Evidently, she was not. Hopefully this spar would not be as drawn out as the other one she'd been in, where her and her opponent had attempted (and failed) to land any attacks for rather a long period of time. For someone else that might have been no problem, but she had rather a tough time filling the pauses with chatter - not that she felt any inclination to, of course, but all the same.

((HP: 30 / 30
Dmg: 0 ))

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

And she missed again. Was this how all spars worked? Perhaps this would not be so bad. All he'd have to do was stand there, watch her continue to miss, and then jump and make a dissipating shot!

Well, not dissipating.

Or maybe not a hit at all. Cearney calculated what he thought would be a punch, but instead, he entirely missed and tripped over himself. Hm.

HP: 30/30
Damage: nope

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

At least it was not only her making a fool out of herself; the boil managed to miss an attack as well. A comforting thought, even if she would not admit it had anyone asked - even though it was in the spirit of honing her battle skills, she was loath to be the only one making an attempt here.

Taking a few steps closer to her opponent, she lashed out with her whip, aiming for his legs. And finally she actually managed to score a hit - wonders of wonders.

((HP: 30 / 30
Dmg: 2 ))

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Much to his chagrin, the reaper actually managed to land a hit on him, throwing him off-step. The nerve! He was a demon, this should come to him easily. Prior practice was not needed.

Naturally, he was telling himself this from an absolutely thrilling position face down on the floor. It took him a few moments to get up and ready himself for more.

HP: 28/30
Damage: never

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Even though she had not thought her attack to be particularly strong, it still had quite an effect. She waited patiently for him to get back on his feet; attacking someone while they were down might be a good tactic in an actual battle, but in a spar it was just over-doing it. At least she felt so - best to keep things amiable.

Once he was back on his feet she imitated her own prior attack, once again aiming for his legs - was there perhaps a tactic for making creeple stumble, here?

((HP: 30 / 30
Dmg: 2 ))

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

She may have gone for the same trick again, but Cearney was much more ready for it, this time. While he still stumbled a tad, he kept himself upright this time.

This uprightness allowed him to line up a punch that finally landed where he intended: he aimed for her side, hoping to throw off her rhythm.

HP: 26/30
Damage: 4

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

The punch to her side made her recoil, holding a hand to the spot he'd hit and stepping back a bit. But now that the spar was really starting to get going, she could use her Fear attack without getting a bad conscience; it seemed unsporting to throw her best at him when he'd not yet managed to damage her.

Now however, they were more or less on even ground. Keeping her eyes on her opponent, she took a deep breath to center herself before summoning cyan flames to coat her whip - hopefully adding to the damage dealt by her blow.

Enough flames summoned, much to her satisfaction, she quickly gauged the boil's position and how she'd have to aim to hit him before nimbly dancing forward and flaying into him with her whip, hitting him wherever she could.

((HP: 26 / 30
Dmg: 7 - used Fear attack ))

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Ouch ouch ouch! Cearney attempted to dodge the onslaught, but it was at little success. The reaper found him and left a few new welts on his body.

Ugh, battling.

Deciding that he would not simply stand for this, Cearney would use his own fear!

Unfortunately, not only did he pick the wrong hand for her, he also did far too much damage to himself in the process in a hilarious backfire. Cearney stumbled backwards at the force of his own impact.

HP: 8/30
Damage: 0, 11 to self

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

((forgot to say how many dice, ignore this post!))