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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 16:53:47 GMT -6
He was attempting to communicate something to her through this, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. The creature himself seemed to be coming to the same conclusion, so he tried another tack. With an air of great patience, he pointed to himself again, then with a sharp motion, took a swipe at the air with a claw.
"You... wish to learn to fight?" said Rabbit. She was not very certain that this was the conclusion he wished her to reach, but it was the best guess she could manage.
Fortunately, this second guess was what the creature was looking for. He nodded once, gravely, and turned that same expectant gaze upon her that Rabbit had grown used to seeing as of late. He was asking for her assistance in this endeavor.
"I am... capable of offering my assistance, though I must warn you that I have no practical experience," Rabbit said.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 16:57:38 GMT -6
But the creature merely flicked the tip of his tail in a dismissive gesture in response to her words. She supposed she did not have practical experience at all before she started working with him, so in that sense it was hardly anything new.
Still... "Aster would be better suited---" she began, but no sooner were the words emitted from her speakers than did the creature's expression sour, lips curling back to reveal teeth bared in a snarl.
Rabbit paused, then said, "Very well. It is not the optimal arrangement, but if you prefer, then I will be the one to assist you," she said.
The creature did not seem entirely satisfied, but he did not protest any further, and the two of them completed another session at the gym in their usual manner, without incident. It was only upon returning to the estate grounds that Rabbit gave the matter of combat training some real thought.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:01:56 GMT -6
Combat... In some sense, some of the things she had taught him were already applicable to combat, but there were also a wide variety of things they could work on. It was a broad category, and training regimens within the city tended to favor an emphasis on combat, for one reason or another. The tournaments, which the creature had pointed out, were part of it, though Rabbit couldn't imagine that the creature himself really wished to compete.
Of all the things they'd done thus far, however, almost all the combat-applicable skills were defensive in nature. And as the creature had expressed his desire to her in the form of a claw swipe, she felt that he wished to learn some offensive maneuvers instead.
It was a place to start, at any rate.
After some consideration, she put forth the idea to him: "Let us build on what we have already done, and begin with the proper way to tackle an opponent," she said.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:08:35 GMT -6
Rabbit had half expected some sort of protest from the creature. He had never been shy about expressing his discontent when he felt it, after all. But the creature merely began to stretch himself, limbering his body to prepare for what was to come; Rabbit took this as his acceptance of her proposal, and went on.
"There is a block in one of the training corrals for this purpose. We should try that first," she said. "Please demonstrate to me how you would approach the maneuver, and we will proceed from there."
They made their way to the training corral in question, though the creature paused at the threshold, something about it having given him pause. It took a moment for Rabbit to realize that he had stopped, and then to figure out the reason for it. It had been some time since he had come to them on the property, such that she had already nearly forgotten his original circumstances.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:14:48 GMT -6
Start: Bash
"I will leave the gate open," she said. "You may leave as you wish. We are only here to make use of the block, which I cannot move under my own power. Aster's Thundergug is likely capable, but he is currently enrolled in the ongoing tournament, and I have been told that he is to rest when not participating."
The creature gave the corral on last dubious look, but this seemed to placate him well enough for him to step in. Having done that, he turned his attention to the block in question.
It was a big, sturdy thing, likely cut from a very large tree, with its face padded out with cloth tied to it by some old rope. It was not very visually impressive, but it served its purpose, which was the sort of fixture Aster preferred to have. "Whenever you are ready, you may begin attempting to bash the target," Rabbit said.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:18:18 GMT -6
The creature took his time, studying the target first before making any move towards it. Rabbit allowed him this, as they were merely beginning, and this was part of the assessment, the feeling-out of what they were to do. In a real combat situation, he would need to react more quickly, but she imagined he was aware of it, and hearing it from her was not going to help him very much.
When he was ready, however, the change was quite abrupt. Rabbit sensed his body tensing, which was all the warning she had before he lunged at the target, and threw his bulk at it. He hit the target with a resounding smack, though the target itself didn't budge, and in the aftermath, she could clearly see that the blow had shaken the creature himself instead. He was doing his best to cover up any hint of pain, but he was not entirely successful.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:21:55 GMT -6
There was, then, some work to be done with regards to this.
The creature was giving the target itself an unpleasant look, possibly discomfited by the fact that it didn't seem to have been affected in the slightest by his attempt. How much force he had really been able to leverage was difficult to determine, since the target had been made with durability in mind over all else. Against a living creature of equal size, perhaps it would have been a dire blow indeed. And from the way that the creature had suffered from the recoil, she didn't think the amount of force was the issue here.
"It was an admirable first attempt," she said, partly because this was true, and partly to soothe his injured pride. The creature looked up at her, eyes narrowed, as though he was casting his doubts on the truth of what she was saying to him.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:28:31 GMT -6
Start: Stone Skin
"The key will be to learn how to do this with the least damage to yourself, I believe," she said. "With increased practice, your body will acclimate to the force, and this in turn will help you learn how to take the same blows from an opponent."
The creature was not precisely mollified by this, but he did return to her side, ostensibly to make another attempt.
"If you would bash the target again without so much force this time," Rabbit said. "I would like a closer look at what you are currently doing."
The creature obliged, though not without a little reluctance, and his movements as he closed in on the target a second time were rather more stiff. Rabbit, for her part, changed the angle from which she was viewing him, and paid more careful and close attention to him as he made his second lunge at the target.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:32:24 GMT -6
This time, it was more clear to her what had gone wrong. The creature had thrown himself at the target without much regard for where he was landing, and as a result, his side more or less smacked into it, ribs and all. He was pulling the blow this time, the memory of the last clearly still fresh in his mind, so he did not suffer so much in the aftermath this time around, but immediately she had suggestions as to how he might make things easier on himself.
"Lead with a part of your body better able to withstand the impact," said Rabbit. "Your shoulder, perhaps. It will go more smoothly if you brace the full extent of your force and your body tightly behind that impact point, rather than dispersing it more widely." Rabbit offered a rough demonstration of what she meant by posing as such with her own body, though the analogy was limited by her different body structure.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:37:46 GMT -6
The creature watched her as she gave her explanation, then moved into position to try it again with a certain briskness that spoke of an eagerness to see if this would work for himself. That was promising; if he was interested in the work, then Rabbit knew that he would apply himself without much prompting on her part. "Bash it again please," she said, though he hardly needed her to say it. He threw himself at the target a third time.
This time around, he took Rabbit's words into account and angled himself to take the blow on his shoulder, though trying to do it and doing it were not necessarily the same thing. He managed it, somewhat, but it was not as well executed as it could have been, and he was still not absorbing the impact very well.
"Perhaps it is best to do it slowly at first," Rabbit concluded.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:43:30 GMT -6
The creature breathed what sounded very much like a sigh, but he must have seen--- or perhaps felt--- the sense in what Rabbit had proposed. Some of that energy and momentum that had colored his movements had dissipated as he came to face the target again. "Try to focus on your form rather than speed or force," Rabbit advised. "That will come later, after your body is familiar with how to move.
If you are ready, then please proceed. Bash," Rabbit said.
The creature did not so much throw himself as he merely approached the target this time around. He did as Rabbit had suggested, paying attention to how he held himself. He nudged his shoulder against the target, then backed away. Rabbit gave him the signal again. "Bash." Again, he nudged the target with his shoulder, his full bulk straight behind him rather than curving around as he had done the last few times.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 17:49:33 GMT -6
They repeated this a few more times before the creature was himself satisfied enough to throw a bit more of his weight behind the blow. Even then, he increased it only incrementally, a few mores steps back before he went forward again. It became almost like a dance, forward and backward and then forward again on Rabbit's signal. By the end of the session, they still hadn't managed to work their way up to the full force attack, though there would be time enough for that at the next session, or the one after that.
It was the creature himself who called an end to the session. It hadn't been very strenuous toward the end, but Rabbit thought that his side might not have borne the first two attempts very well.
The next day, they resumed, though out of consideration for his bruises, they favored the other, untried side for this session.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 18:01:33 GMT -6
It was slow work, especially as the creature had to learn all over again how to move on that side, and as a result, what they did was mostly the same as the previous session, only in reverse.
By the third session, the creature was confident enough in himself to begin putting some real speed behind his bashes. It still wouldn't have done much against an opponent of his size, but it might have threatened a smaller creature, if he managed to catch it off guard. He was still slow, but given that this wasn't the finished product, Rabbit was content to allow him to proceed at his own pace.
The amount of force that the creature used increased incrementally by session, until at last the creature stared at the target with particular determination. Rabbit took note of it, but nevertheless, gave the signal. "Bash," she said, and watched him take a sharp leap at the target.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 18:08:58 GMT -6
End: Bash
This time, again, he struck the target with a solid sound. But Rabbit could tell that this attempt had gone much better than his first. The creature himself did not seem much worse for wear, moving off from his attack easily and without pain. His practice, such as it was, had paid off.
Of course, a single success was hardly enough to qualify their training as done. It had to be replicated for Rabbit to be sure of it. To that end, she asked him to perform the attack again. "Bash," she said.
He had grown used to this process of proofing what they worked on, so the creature raised no fuss, and simply performed the attack again. Though Rabbit asked him to repeat it several times, the outcomes were much the same, which was what she had hoped to find. Consistency was the final hallmark of success, as far as she was concerned.
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Post by Noa on Sept 15, 2019 18:13:24 GMT -6
With the creature having learned how to properly tackle an opponent, Rabbit turned her attention to other things, namely the strengthening of his hide that she had mentioned when they began working on this maneuver. It had already begun; the persistent practice had toughened the creature's hide somewhat, in a slow and gradual process.
She wished now to expedite that process, namely through exposing the creature to more roughly textured targets. It was a somewhat crude method to accomplish the goal, but it had been done before, and there was little enough to lose from bolstering one's defense, even if it was not necessarily what the creature had asked her to help him with.
Their next session took place not at the training corral, but in a stretch of back wood on the edge of the property. There were trees here, some young and some old, and many of which possessed rough bark suitable for their purposes.
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