XXX As to be expected, Azusa was no stranger to hand to hand! Forcing herself to shake off her dismay at not being wholly successful, she instead allowed herself to enjoy the exhilaration of the fight. Feeling the man collide with her in another tackle, his arms around her waist, Astraea would place her own grip upon her opponent. Sharp, claw like nails that had not been apparent before dug into her fellow Marine's head as she was lifted from the ground as forced back, and the woman drew in a deep breath of air, shifting her body the best she could to sink a set of surprisingly pointed canines into his shoulder. Well... He had said not to hold back, right? Even as the taste of blood reached her senses and choked her, she forced herself to bite down harder, clearly doing her best to maintain the grip she had on Azusa.
It was only as she felt him try to throw her forward that she would release one hand from the back of his head, raising her arm in the air and thrusting it forward. With the action, a large wave of water rose from the usually stagnant water around the circle, rushing up and over the pair to pull them back. Between the momentum Astraea was trying to use by throwing her weight backwards, her grasp on her opponent, and the assistance of the water, she'd attempt to pull him right along with her.
Charging the blonde towards the outer ring he suddenly felt a heavy force striking him. A large wave of gathered water pressing down against him. He winced through the harsh bite to his shoulder, a trickle of warm sanguine fluid rolling down as the clawing would leave whelps in his back. Azusa had a couple of options, but both of which he couldn't fully control. The pressure of the wave hadn't been too ferocious but he found it difficult to recover from the loss of momentum, having been caught off guard.
As they fell from the stone circle, a proud grin spread across his lips. For someone so straight forward she managed to throw off his balance with an unusual method. They'd hit the surface below, Azusa being sure to release her and pivot himself just enough before falling out the ring so he hadn't landed on top of her. Rolling over onto his back the man begun to laugh a hardy laugh."Aha! Yes, Excellent! That was most enjoyable."He complimented as he stood up with a feint grunt. He'd brush the dirt and grass from his tattered uniform before extending a hand towards Astraea to help her up as well.
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Words: 200 Cash Flow: 2,000 Total Bank: 101,170 Posting History: [ x ]
XXX Upon being released, Astraea fell back into the ring of water that surrounded the circular clearing she had been fighting in, remaining submerged for a few moments as she stared up through the crystalline liquid to look at the sky above. Underneath the surface it was calm and quiet, a tranquility that differed greatly from the way she felt inside. Taking in a deep breath of the cool waters, she'd let it out slowly and close her eyes, a light smile on her face. "Ah.. What was the point in changing in the first place if I was just going to end up like this again.." Finally she laughed, humored by the fact that she'd have to stop by the locker rooms for a second time in one day to change her soaked uniform. Pulling herself up and back to the stone circle, the woman grinned at Azusa and began wringing her hair out, dipping her head to him. "Thank you for helping me. You're an excellent fighter; I'll make to take what you've shown me as I move forward." Even if she hadn't been able to completely best him in swordplay or hand to hand, she was content with the outcome and she had certainly learned from their spar. By now the rain clouds has disappeared, allowing the sun to shine back down on the pair, and Astraea flopped onto her back, closing her eyes to enjoy the warmth. Moving made her wince, and she rubbed at her side, the same smile on her face.
"You hit a lot harder than I thought you would." Chuckling, she remained basking in the sun's rays a few moments longer until she suddenly remembered she'd given Azusa a couple wounds too. Bolting up into a sitting position, she turned to look at him with a concerned, almost horrified expression on her face. "Are you alright?! I didn't want to hurt you, but I got carried away! I'm so sorry!" Sure, he'd said not to hold back and this had been a fight, but he was still her comrade! And her almost-sort-of-brother-in-law to boot! Taking his hand she'd standing, peering at the wounds she'd left at him and wincing. "D-Do we need to go to the medical bay? Or I could go run and bring something back for you if you want to wait here! Or--!" Clearly flustered, she fretted over him before trailing off, her cheeks a light shade of pink as she stepped back and rubbed the back of your neck. "A-Ah.. You are a doctor.. I'll leave you to it." It didn't take a lot to send her into her worrying mode, especially when it came to injuries, but Azusa would know better about all of this than she would.
"Sorry about your uniform, as well. I will get you another one, as I said." Taking a moment to wring out more water from her uniform, her expression once more shifted to a smile. "Well, I didn't defeat you, but.. What do you say? Do I still get to hear a tale of your past?"
A bit of battle always seemed to brighten the mood and relieve tension between allies, at least, that's what the bearded man believed. She was a fast learner, that much was true, she took his lessons to heart despite him not having yet critiqued her. For a moment her gazed down to her, finding a hint of tranquility in her nature, it was a calming innocence, a unique air to about her that made her stand out. Genuine kindness was rare amongst even the Marines these days it felt, it was a breath of fresh air.
Azusa dismissively waved a hand her way when she mentioned his wounds. She had managed to get in quite a few blows against him,"I train my body for combat and not for vanity."The man remarked with a chuckle at her mentioning that he hit harder than she thought.
Removing the torn shirt of his uniform he'd wring out the water once helping Astraea to her feet. Tearing off a piece of tattered cloth that was dry he'd remove a small jar from one of the soggy pockets, pop the lid, smear its gel-like contents over the cloth, and wrap it over his wound. He stepped from the ring of water around them and back onto dry land. He set a hand onto the blonde's shoulder and motioned his head for her to follow as he walked off. Although their bet was to tell her a tale if she had won, Azusa decided to count their draw as his loss. He paused for a moment to turn his head back to her, a light smile stretching his lips."I was going to tell you regardless. I simply wanted you to come at me without restraint. Please, come. Let us get changed then afterward I will share a tale with you over sake."He gave a simple nod, slipping his hands behind his back before heading to get a spare change of clothes. Though he'd call out to her one last time while doing so.
"Also your strikes are much too wide. If you wish to pick up the sword then you must learn to wield, not swing."
There were other pieces of advice he wanted to give her, but first, story time.
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As Xandria dropped off the marines she saved and went to the info department to turn in her mission she decided to stop the the training area to catch up on some training, after going on missions she never had some time to herself. After telling her crew to take the day off and do whatever on the base she decided to go to the training area to see if there were any new recruits she could help out or if they needed any help. Just entering the training area all recruits turned to salute her, she saluted back and went over to different recruits asking if they needed help on anything or if she could do anything to help them out.
The place was massive. A starry eyed boy walked around the training area, gawking at the practice dummies, firing range, and sparing areas. But what was more amazing than the equipment were all the variety of people in the area. Humans, some fishman, and from a distance he could see a towering giant. All the new sights were overloading his brain with excitement. So much so that when a random person asked if he needed any help he blurted out the first thing in his mind. "Let's fight!" Joven said enthusiastically. While his mom did teach him the basics of fighting, actual sparing was prohibited. But without her hawklike eyes watching over him, he could do everything wanted to do. Stay up past his bedtime, eat candy in bed, and now he could actually fight. Joven was hopping back and forth in place as he analyzed his opponent. Looking up to the top her hat and to the bottom of her shoes. The 5 foot 4 inch marine would give salute to what he know knew as a higher ranking officer. "Joven Justice, chore boy" Giving a proper introduction before grabbing and shaking her hand vigorously. "Nice to meet you!"
As Xandria was helping out the other recruits she then turned to see another recruit who saluted right to her as Xandria gave a smile back and saluted back and then heard his name. Joven Justice, before she could respond she then felt her hand being grabbed and being shook vigorously as at first she was surprised but gave him a friendly smile. "The pleasure is all mine Joven san, Justice is your last name huh? Quite fitting for someone of your stature."Xandria commented as she would see how he stood and his cheerful attitude on life, with a nod she gave her name and rank back to him for him to know. "My name is Lieutenant Xandria Aytolis, nice to meet you too!" Xandria wouldn't be bothered by her hand being shook so hard and fast, she waited for him to let go as she asked. "I'm just helping out the other recruits here on the training grounds, is there anything I can help you with today Joven san?" Xandria asked as she used the san honorifics to show respect to him as well as he was giving it to her.
PonderingPenguin
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:37 pm
Chevalier Brahne||Electro // Rokushiki|| Specialist: Electro ||"Through death, I saw the light." || ╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
"TRY AGAIN", Chevalier would hear from Moxis. His wooden bokkan would be brandished before him, battered from the many hits it had took. Chevalier would raise herself from the ground. She was tired from training so much, but Captain Moxis was determined to push her to the edge.
"How long do we have to do this Uncle Moxis?" The sweat would drop down both of their brows, glistening as the sun beamed onto their heads. A light wind would blow as Chevalier would see tired, and nonchalant. Her demeanor would tell a different story as she was indeed ready to go blow for blow. Moxis would dash forward, determined to strike Chevalier and make her take her training serious.
"You'll forever hold yourself back if you don't take your training seriously!", Moxis would exclaim as he would swipe horizontally towards Chevalier. She would block it, locking eyes with Moxis once more. Threads of grass and shards of wood would disperse from the clash, a light wind echoing throughout the training grounds. Other Marines would look towards the epicenter, more interested in their training than their own. Chevalier's own issue up until that point was that she was a 16 year old prodigy, and had an issue with taking things seriously. Training with Moxis had started to become boring to her, as the challenge had been decreasing throughout the years.
"I'm telling you I don't need it!", naivety would shout from Chevalier. She would assume that every person would be just like Moxis in terms of strength, speed, etc. She was skilled, there was no doubt in that; however, it was a mystery as to why she was so skilled at what she did. Her swordplay wasn't something to be taken lightly, though she hadn't gone out to the world to take down a pirate.
The two would leap back after the clash, and Moxis would place his bokkan in his hand. He would exclaim, "If your arrogance would overtake you in training, then I can no longer be your Master. You have outgrown your sheath, and need to find another path." Moxis would turn around and walk out of the training area, leaving Chevalier within the arena. She would look around, the other Marines looking away to avoid eye contact. She would kick the dirt from the ground some, almost embarrassed at his outburst at her. From there, she would take some time and take a ship to North Blue to blow off some steam.
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Devil Fruit:Sara Sara no Mi, Model: Axolotl||Alias:The Undying||Theme:Aristocrat Stampede||Rank:Chore Girl
