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RESPITE TRAINING GROUNDS - MORNING
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Piper hasn't been up to do much around town lately, outside of spending time with Beef either privately or in waning pursuit of clues. She's moved on from frustrated into hopeless on that front, and has been a little down when the ox isn't around to keep her chin up, thinking about whether she wants to return to Orela with such disappointing results. Today she's toiling in her usual way of earning a little coin, doing odd jobs, this time doing some heavy lifting in replacing some thick target posts around the training area. She has one hoisted on her shoulder and heading for a hole in the ground, of course dressed for the work in a bulky, loose coverall.
Cen marched in to the training grounds with the cabinet on her back. She was not very big, but she was rather buff for her size and well defined under the fur. She looked around a bit at what was available for her to train on or with.
Piper hoists the pole off her shoulder, holding the 12' long hunk of wood in front of herself upright as she aims it over the hole. Letting go of it leads to a muffled 'shhh-thwump' as it nestles into the almost perfectly dug hole. That bit is not her handiwork, but rather the mole nearby who she nods to so they can pack the little extra dirt in. Piper turns toward the training grounds, patting her hands off on her coverall with a satisfied grunt.
Cen slides the cabinet off her back for a moment, seeing the massive croc, she had an eye for details. The hardest thing to do now was to resist the urge to grab her sketchbook and start sketching right away. She was here for some excersize of her body, not her arts.
Piper notices the unfamiliar cat looking her way, glancing back toward the pole behind herself. "Not ready. Sitting loose. That one is good." Piper gestures toward another new post a few feet away from the one she just put in.
Cen: What do you do with them? *She could think of things to do but well, they might not be intended, besides, she was curious and someone willing to answer a few questions might be in for more conversation at some time. She started to stretch a bit, starting with a few rolls of her shoulders where the bands of the cabinet had rested*
Piper shrugs, stepping toward the stable post. "Depends. Good for staffs. Control practice. Toughening your body." She demonstrates the last by punching the post a few times. Nothing dramatic, and not leaving a mark on the wood. "Scales already tough though." She chuckles three deep notes, "Real reason? Save money on straw dummies."
Cen: Easy to punch when it stands still and does not punch back no? *She started to shadow box a bit, moving legs and arms, dodging with her upper body, clearly warming up her muscles for some more serious excersize.* "Though I do understand training for the basics before progressing to moving targets."
Piper chuckles her notes again, watching the cat move around and box the air. "Aye. Stiff and boring. Prefer a warm target." She grins toothily, crossing her arms as she observes. "Very agile, impressive form. Trained?"
Cen: "Funny way of expressing that 'Warm Target'" She giggles a bit. "I am trained yes, not in boxing really mind. Mine is a finer art of agility, speed and precision." From the shadow boxing she goes in to an elegant, almost dance like Kata, there are punches and kicks, but performed slowly
Cen: And you, you look like you can uproot one of those poles and clobber people with it.
Nesseth wanders into the training grounds, stretching a bit and looking like a perfectly normal lizard again now that the effects of that fruit he'd eaten with Erika has worn off. He doesn't have his crossbow with him today, as he's decided to see if his legs are working as intended now that he has them back. He makes his way towards the sparring grounds, only to blink when he spots Piper chatting with someone unfamiliar. He smiles and makes his way over to one of the benches lining the training area and simply sits down to watch the two and listen to their banter.
Piper watches the kata, nodding with a laugh at her observation. "Could, aye. Prefer punches. Easier balance." She tilts her head a bit before extending a thick hand in greeting. "Piper Hatnay. Want something that moves? I move."
Cen stops, shakes the hand "I am Cen" She can not help but study the hand for a moment, the tough scales, toughened even further by use. "I may as well forget striking you, I get the feeling it will not do much more than striking a tree. Getting some touches in might be nice. But the real challenge will be avoiding yours" She winks at Piper.. "Lets dance, lets see you move."
Nesseth calls out after a moment, before the two start to spar. "Yeah, best avoid punching Piper if you can. Unless you've got strength to match her, it's like punching a brick wall." He grins as he waves at Piper, "And good morning, Piper!"
Piper shrugs, her grin slipping. "Dance? Am not much of dancer. Everyone has weak spots. You must be faster, after all." She looks up at the familiar voice, smiling and waving back. "Good morning, [little cousin]! Doing well, Nesseth?"
Cen stretches up on to tiptoe, arms raised high, breathing in slow, then out slow as her arms lower and she shifts in to an open stance, one foot slightly back, arms raised with open palms. her eyes dart all over Piper, armored skin for the most part, attacking from the back would be quite useless. Face then. if theeth can be avoided, or joints.. belly perhaps, but no doubt there was enough muscle there too to soak up blows.
Nesseth nods happily. "Doing quite well, yeah! I was thinking of getting some exercise, but this looks like it'll be more fun as a start to the morning."
Piper nods to Nesseth, distracted for the moment before she hears Cen taking a breath. She looks down to the cat curiously. "Hm? Oh, mean fight. Right. Come." She very nonchalantly gestures to Cen to follow her a short way to a circle embedded in the dirt, stepping to one side of it. "Easy, stepping outside loses." She thumps her tail, which is outside of the circle. "Tails do not count. When you're ready." She doesn't settle into any stance, but her fingers ball into fists after a quick stretch.
Nesseth smiles at both Piper and Cen as he settles in to watch the sparring match. "Good luck, both of you. Should be neat to see how this goes!"
Cen follows, once more gets ready, steps in to the circle and echos.. "ready" yeah, tails might not count, but she was certain to keep an eye out for that tail, she had the suspicion that fists were not the only thing she had to contend with. But hell, she loved a good challenge.
Piper nods, her expression dropping to neutral focus as she raises her hands in front of her and begins the fight by charging at Cen. Very slowly. A walking pace, really. Her tail dragging through the dirt behind her as she closes the gap.
Nesseth rests his elbows against his knees, his fingers lacing into a little platform for him to rest his chin as he watches the two start their sparring match. He pays particular attention to Cen, equal parts curious about her fighting style and her in general, considering he's never seen her around town before now. He knows a good number of Piper's methods, so he's definitely more curious about how Cen handles things.
Cen slows her breath, keeping her gaze on her opponent, wondering where the attack will come from, She would have to be carefull not to be cornered. A chuckle escapes her, being cornered in a circle.. rich.. she started to move a little though once the croc got too near Shifting a little to her opponents left side.
Piper seems nonplussed by Cen taking her time to evaluate her opponent. It's not something she hasn't been doing herself, but the croc is somewhat complacent when fighting someone considerably smaller than herself who is not using any weapon. "Hek" she grunts, making the first move and swinging an undercut right fist toward Cen.
Cen drops in line with that blow, getting her head out of the way, at the same time a foot comes up, aiming for the lower arm, preferably the wrist, she did not put full force in to the kick, she preferred to touch and not hurt.
Nesseth hums quietly, watching the opening moves with particular interest. He quietly mutters to himself as he starts to analyze things in more detail. "Reactive, speedy... a good counter if she doesn't wear out before Piper..."
Piper feels the kick connect with her wrist, twitching her arm aside. As her torso turns with that movement, her left hand comes across, sweeping in front of the croc with an open palm. The movements are slow, while she gauges what Cen's reactions are like.
Cen: "Gah" That that other hand came out of nowhere, and flat or not, that would be a blow that would ring her bell, she turned the momentum of the dodge in to a backwards roll, and then she felt the edge of the ring at her wrist. She just about managed to arrest the movment, ending in a precarious handstand at the very edge of the ring.
Piper closes her left hand just as it passes where Cen was, letting out a pleased grunt. "Quick. Smart. Vandal guarded that." She straightens up, pulling the buttons of her coverall open and shimmying out of the top half, tying the sleeves at her waist. She stretches a bit as she keeps her eyes on Cen. "More?"
Nesseth winces as he sees Cen go tumbling, only to blink and raise his eyebrows as she catches herself with an acrobatic maneuver. He glances towards Piper, noting that she seems to be getting a little more serious.
Cen gets the right way up again, glad that the Crock had not pushed her attack, it would have been a loss. She nodded, ready to continue the bout, a smile on her face for she was enjoying herself immensely. It had been a while since she had a truly challenging opponent.
Piper takes the nod as a cue, staring her intentionally slow approach again with fists raised, her bulk no longer hidden under the coverall, not that it was a particularly good disguise to begin with.
Cen makes a dive to her left this time, a ruse, because instead of rolling with it, she blocks the movement with her hands and uses it to aim another kick at the crock's abdomen
Piper takes a fast step toward where she thinks Cen will go, raising a fist before catching the kick in the gut. The softer scales give way under the force, and Piper lets out a grunt of pain. She doesn't otherwise flinch though, reacting with a grab toward Cen's leg. If she manages to catch the cat, she'll be flung aside for Piper to have a moment to reset.
Cen: Whoah *That vice grip of the crock across her ankle, she had not expected her to react that fast, the slow movements had lulled her a bit to the actual speed that the croc could reach. She landed with a roll staying just inside the circle, but barely, She made another jump towards the other end of the ring, hoping to just not be where Piper would expect her. she had touched twice, but
Cen: has also nearly been out of the ring twice.. So far it did not quite go Cen's way in terms of actually winning this bout.
Nesseth whistles quietly, impressed at Cen's daring as well as Piper's quick reactions. He also makes a mental note to not attempt to kick Piper, or he's going to go flying...
Piper rubs her bare scales where Cen's blow had landed before she shuffles her arms a bit, watching Cen with sharp intent. "Good kick." Her feet shift, turning with Cen's movement as she settles a bit.
Cen: Thanks Piperr, good thrrow.. nearrly had me out of the rring.. *a little purr had snuck in to her speech, clearly she was excited or at least amused*
Piper grins, shrugging. "Could just pick up." Her tail shifts, kicking up a bit of dust as she starts toward Cen with more intent and speed, fists raised. She knows by the rules, she could have won this by simply pushing Cen backwards out of the ring. Really she doesn't care to win by ring out, but it makes a good excuse to keep her opponent within a certain range.
Cen moved backwards a little, getting closer to the edge once more. A few times she made a little move as if to attack, gauging the reaction to it, but it was seldom more than just a twitch.
Piper brings her arms in close when Cen false starts, but otherwise doesn't relent her approach. She does angle to Cen's left side though, flanking a bit though her intent is really just to keep the cat from accidentally stepping out of the ring.
Nesseth can tell from his spot at the edge of the ring that Piper's just drawing the fight out, but given that neither of them look even remotely tired yet, he's happy to just continue observing. His scaly tail twitches a bit here and there and his frills flex pensively as he mentally maneuvers himself around similar attacks in his head in a mock sparring match.
Cen suddenly lets out a flurry of blows, claws retracted of course, she wanted to push piper on to the defensive if she could. Not certain if it would work with just the speed of the blows, there would be kinetic energy for sure and she was not weak, but was it enough?
Piper guards against many of the blows, though she certainly feels it when a number slip past her raised arms, some of them finding soft belly scales. Piper lets out a grunt as she takes a step back and braces against the furry flurry. A growl rises in her throat as she feels the sparks of pain. When she's fed up with defending, Piper's left arm darts out in a jab meant to stagger. Her tail thumps the ground behind her giving the croc more momentum as her right fist sails groundward in a hammer blow.
Cen had hoped it would lead to a punch but damn, a hammer blow was not what she had expected. had it been a straight one the twist of her body would have sufficed probably, she could have used the momentum, but now, though her torso managed to avoid the blow, her hip did not and it had enough force to just buckle her knees, there was an oof of breath being knocked out of her as she
Cen landed hard on her arse. In reflex she kicked out to what she knew was a weak point in most, the inside of the knee.
Piper watched Cen fall from the blow, prepared to step back and let her up to continue the fight, but she was not expecting the cat to continue fighting from the ground. She took the kick as Cen expected, falling to one knee, put well off balance and leaning over her opponent. Piper growled in response, attempting to plant her huge left hand on Cen's chest to pin her down, right hand raised.
Nesseth has adjusted his posture a bit over the last several strikes, now leaning forward in his seat as he just watches the continued chaos with a sharp eye. He's able to keep up with Cen's onslaught... but only barely, and his focus on trying to keep up is enough that he only just barely catches Piper's counter in time.
Cen grabs the arm that pins her down, trying to both wrap her legs around to come to an arm lock, as well as trying to avoid the blow from the raised hand.
Piper feels Cen pinning herself readily to Piper's hand, the croc's fingers closing to grip her well. "Right." She twists her body, lifting Cen a few inches off the dirt before pushing her to thud back against the surface. Twice and thrice.
Nesseth can't help but wince every time Piper picks Cen up and slams her back onto the dirt. He feels a sympathetic twinge go up his back every time it happens, but he just continues to watch, figuring the two fighters know when best to stop.
Cen gets the wind knocked out of her, wrong strategy.. she focused on the wrist she was holding.. it would go bad for her if she could not at least win her freedom of movement again, with fingers outstretched she aimed for the pressure point in the wrist, trying to numb the hand, or to at least loosen the grip enough to roll away.
Piper flinches at the pressure in her wrist, finding her fingers feeling like they're full of gnats as they go limp, releasing Cen. She takes a breath, stepping around the cat and putting them both back well within the circle. The croc gives Cen time to get up while rubbing her wrist and trying to get the feeling back in her hand. "Smart, Cen. You okay?"
Nesseth can't help but whistle again as he calls to the pair. "That looked kind of intense on both sides. You two doing alright over there?"
Piper shakes her arm out, glancing toward Nesseth with a slightly concerned look. "...Ay, I am."
Cen does get up but needs a few deep breaths. "Brrutal, I ~like~ you.." She grins and dusts herself off some, looks over at Nesseth and shoots him a smile and wink too "Just fine Darling"
Nesseth nods and settles back onto his seat, reassured. "Alright, then, if you're sure." He chuckles a little, "Making me want to snag one of you for a match later."
Cen: Hand ok Darling? *she addressed Piper now, fully ready to help undo what she wrought if it did not ease out by itself*
Piper tries to flex her fingers, managing to move them a bit. "Well enough." She's relieved that Cen has gotten back up and seems okay, sighing out a breath before looking to the cat. "Ready?" She raises a fist and anear-fist, not seeming terribly tired out yet.
Cen hops a few times, her shoulders and back hurt some, but nothing too crippling just yet "Rready" she purrs back.
Piper shrugs, nodding. "Glad you're warmed up." Well stretched and pumped up, the croc takes a low stance, baring her shoulder in Cen's direction as she prepares to dart at her. Her dragging tail kicks up a cloud of dust behind her as the croc takes three long strides in Cen's direction, her torso twisting with the motion of an undercut right punch, trying to target Cen's abdomen.
Cen laughed this time, she swept her right foot back in a wide ark, her entire body twisting out of the direction of that blow, she might not be strong, but she ~was~ fast. In return she attempted once mnre to grab Piper's wrist, to leverage her momentum with the twist. loss of balance of the opponent was the ultimate goal.
Nesseth continues to quietly observe the two as they spar. The amount of sparring he's gotten done with Piper before means he's pretty familiar with ways to mitigate her attacks, even though she still handily beats him in sheer staying power. He finds himself focusing on Cen further, trying to see if he'd stand a chance against her or not.
Piper lurched forward with the tugging from Cen's move, not entirely unfamiliar with the tactic. She tries to brace herself with her left hand on the ground, but the static buzz leaves her grip weak and she instead hits the dirt with her chest and then chin like a huge bag of rocks. She pushes up from the dirt, swinging her tail in a defensive sweep in Cen's general direction as she tries to recover.
Cen feels how her legs get swiped out from under her, forgotten about the tail.. damn, he broke her fall on her shoulders and hopped right back up again, she motioned for Piper to do the same. hopping back a bit, out of range of the next strike. She was enjoying herself far too much fighthing the Croc.
Piper grins, nodding as she stands ready. "Great!" She can feel her heart starting to pound. "More." She drives forward again, minding her balance a little more, though throwing an almost identical looking punch to before.
Cen jumped straight up this time, making a salto in the air, her kick was aimed to hit between the shoulders of Piper.
Nesseth chuckles to himself while noting that the sparring match continues to grow more intense. The more he watches, the more he wants to just immediately ask for a match himself. Something about the thrill and excitement of the two facing off is bleeding off onto him, and his tail continues to flick about a little as he tracks every single move with a sharp gaze.
Piper notes Cen sailing over her head, though can't do much about her own momentum. The kick does land, but Piper shrugs it off by leaning down forward, and sending her heavy tail sailing blindly straight up, catching herself by her hands on the dirt.
Nesseth smirks a bit, glad to see that he's not insane for trying to use Piper's momentum against her during sparring, and that others with lighter fighting styles do the same thing.
Cen tries to grab that tail, more or less to change her momentum some, the force was a bit bigger than she expected though, hands slipped instead of gripping and she had to turn it in to a roll instead, coming back on her feet and turning to Piper again.
Piper is up, pushed to turn by her hefty arms and looming over Cen as she turns around to face Piper. She raises her right hand again, but brings her knee up with it, aimed for center mass.
Cen turned again, moving with that blow, it connected, hard and she winced, but she used that force and momentum to sweep a kick at Piper's leg
Piper plants her rising foot hard, staggering from Cen's returned kick, but not set into the dirt again. She lifts her tail, thumping it into the ground as her left hand comes across in another open palmed sweep.
Cen once more stretched her fingers, aiming for the points at the wrist and elbow this time. She was wondering how much of this she could keep up.
Piper drops her arm away from Cen's reach, driving forward instead with her elbow and shoulder.
Cen gets knocked by the shouder, she brings her arm round though aiming for Piper's neck with her elbow. It was likely too little to late, she lands once more on her rump, outside of the circle this time.
Nesseth claps his hands a bit as he stands up and makes his way over to the ring once Cen falls over outside of the arena. "Well, looks like that's that!"
Piper flinches from the neck blow, though Cen's poor balance leaves it glancing as Piper straightens up to watch Cen land outside the arena. She takes a steadying breath, gesturing to the ground. "Shame, that. Well fought." She offers a hand to Cen.
Cen grabs it but well, it was not really needed, she was nible enough to get up. "Won farre and squarre.. that was a nice sparrring session."
Nesseth glances between Piper and Cen with a chuckle. "You had me starting to wonder if you two were ever going to stop or call it."
Cen: By my reckoning she had me 3 times before..
Piper chuckles her three notes, nodding along and lacking any humility in the moment. "Likely, yes. With a dagger, you'd win."
Cen unsheathes her claws for a moment
Cen: it was a frriendly bout. The kick to the knee was a rreflex, does it hurrt?
Nesseth shrugs with a smile. "Honestly, you two gave as good as you got. It was good fun watching you both go at it."
Piper pats her knee, feeling a remaining buzz of vague that she grins through. "Not much, was surprising." She stretches, nodding to Nesseth. "Enjoyed the show? Look forward to next time. See what you learned."
Cen smiles at Nesseth "Thank you Darrling, but I'd rrather have herr on my side than as my enemy and no mistake."
Piper stretches, dusting her scales off before turning toward the gate. "That was fun. See you around, Cen."
Cen walks over the the cabinet and takes her book out. Book was of course a bit of a stretch of the definition, it was a collection of different parchments, papers and vellums bound together, probably the work of an apprentice binder. She did not mind though, it was merely meant for sketching. she took the charcoal stick from the spine and started to sketch both Piper and Nesseth,
Calarin chirped a bit and came crawling out of the cabinet, wrapping its tail around her neck, the little drakeling looked made of bithmuth and shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow.
Piper stays around long enough to observe the drakeling for a bit and be sketched before saying her goodbyes and leaving the training grounds in a chipper mood, if a bit more bruised than when she arrived.