|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:40:06 GMT -6
Maybe it was predatory instinct. The half breed did look like a predator, after all. Whatever it is, it was getting harder and harder to evade him.
But near the end of it, Rhys also felt like he was on the verge of some sort of breakthrough too. Maybe that was just fatigue, but as time went on, it began to feel like he had a… an inkling of when something bad was about to happen, or when something was coming towards him. Like it got easier when he didn’t think about it.
Come to think of it, hadn’t Rabbit said something similar about that?
He was too tired to dwell on it though. He’d just have to ask about it next time…
The next day, they met up to try again, as soon as Rhys could extricate himself. Aster seemed content to leave him be for now, possibly wanting to give him a break from the work they’d been doing, but rest was just about the last thing Rhys wanted at the moment.
… He had somehow managed to forget, overnight, how unnerving it was to be around the half breed. The forgetting had been a relief.
13
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:40:42 GMT -6
Unfortunately, it all came back to him as he approached the two of them now, so his period of relief was firmly at an end. The half breed fixed him with a smug look, as though he was well aware of exactly how uncomfortable he was making Rhys.
{Are you two always together?} Rhys said to Rabbit.
“He is my charge, but he goes where he pleases, so long as he does not harm the property or its other residents,” Rabbit replied. “However, he has expressed an interest in learning about combat, so I am assisting you both in tandem today, as well.”
{In tandem, huh…} It looked like it would be more of the same today. Rhys didn’t like it, but he told himself that he had survived yesterday, so he could get through it this time too.
That was what he told himself, but their first few rounds ended pretty badly for him. He was caught several times by the half breed, more than he had been yesterday--- the half breed’s skills had improved, but it felt as though Rhys’s had dulled or stagnated. It didn’t help that he still felt unsettled in the half breed’s presence.
14
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:40:58 GMT -6
Riven, Stalk: End
By this point it had become pretty obvious that it was more Rhys being taught anything than the half breed. Rabbit would tell him to stalk, and he’d do it, but there was no longer that sense of… attentiveness, maybe. Rhys had the distinct sense that the half breed was treating this more and more as a game, a way to amuse himself. The thought rankled somewhat, and he redoubled his efforts in evading him.
Maybe the irritation helped. He did better as time went on. By the end of the session, the half breed was having a hard time catching him at all. It was long, grim work, and he left off feeling nearly as drained as he had the day before. Keeping his guard up for so long was mentally draining, and if anything, it felt as though the half breed had even fewer tells than he’d had before… But he did feel like he was getting the hang of it, a little at a time.
He made progress, but it was a slow process. It didn’t help that his training partner had such an oppressive presence. But as the days turned into weeks, Rhys adjusted.
15
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:41:10 GMT -6
It was like… he couldn’t stay that way, feeling squashed, because it tired him out too much, and it wasn’t really like the half breed had done anything to him all this time. Which wasn’t to say he wasn’t dangerous, but…
No, more to the point, being scared didn’t do Rhys any good either. He was better at dodging when he didn’t think about how uncomfortable the half breed made him, so after a while, he just didn’t think about it. Things were already hard enough without that added challenge.
The half breed noticed the change too. Rhys was pretty sure the half breed wasn’t happy about it, but he was too haughty to let on that much. All he said was, {Oh? You’ve stopped shaking, have you, little worm?}
{I’m not scared of you,} said Rhys. It didn’t feel like bravado either, this time around.
{You should be,} said the half breed, but he didn’t press the point. They were starting, and there was no more time for idle chatter.
This time, however, Rabbit introduced something else into the equation. The blindfold that she had kept on hand finally came into play. “Be careful,” was all she said to Rhys before placing it over his eyes.
16
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:41:31 GMT -6
“Stalk.”
With his vision obstructed, Rhys’s other senses felt… not heightened, necessarily, but he was aware that he was paying more attention to them. He was straining now to listen for any sign of movement, and… to his slight surprise, he managed to hear some. He hadn’t been able to before, but it was different now. Not very loud, but…
Unfortunately, being robbed of his sight was still disorienting. When the strike came, he reacted too late. The half breed didn’t quite manage to snag him, since he had grown used to ducking out of the way, but he did feel the half breed’s claws graze his side.
After a few tries, however, he got better at it. The adjustment wasn’t as drastic this time around. It was more a matter of clearing his head, and relying on what he had instead of reaching for something that wasn’t there--- in this case, his eyesight.
And then… he heard it. The barest bit of rustling to his left. He hadn’t heard Rabbit give the signal to the half breed. Maybe he was being given free reign to do as he saw fit. Whatever it was, he didn’t think about it; he just dodged.
17
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:41:54 GMT -6
He heard rather than saw or felt the impact of what must have been the half breed touching down on the ground. He was relieved at having gotten it right for a moment, but then he sensed something else---
Behind him this time. He didn’t know how the half breed had moved so quickly, but he had been right the last time, hadn’t he? Rhys moved again, darting to the side. The sound of impact was different this time.
Rabbit, he realized. Rabbit was the one who had tried to ambush him that time. Was this part of the training? Why hadn’t she given him any warning?
“Very good,” she said.
{That was you, wasn’t it? What’s happening?} he asked.
“What you are learning is to evade attacks instinctively,” Rabbit said. “The main purpose is to avoid being ambushed at the beginning of a fight. I wished to test the efficacy of your ability to evade something with little to no warning.”
Rhys turned the explanation over in his mind. If that was the case, then her issuing any sort of warning really would have defeated the purpose… But he couldn’t help being a little put out by it, all the same.
18
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:45:55 GMT -6
Rhys, Danger Sense: End
{I wish you could have said something, but… No, I know why you didn’t,} he said. {Does that mean we’re done now?}
“No, though I believe we are close. There is only the matter of ensuring you are able to replicate the effect consistently,” said Rabbit.
They kept practicing. They kept practicing, in fact, for days at a time, during which Rabbit would participate herself sometimes, irregularly. Rhys therefore had as little warning as he could possibly have had, save for if she had gone and brought a third creature into the mix. Fortunately for him, she didn’t do that--- that would have been a nasty surprise for him to open his eyes to.
But even so, at this point he was pretty sure he’d be able to dodge them. He was doing pretty well so far, better than he had been doing before, and even without knowing what was happening, he managed alright.
Even Rabbit seemed to be satisfied, after a time. Eventually, she called an end to the session and had this to say to Rhys: “The skill may fade without occasional practice, but I believe you should be able to evade an ambush.”
19
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:46:49 GMT -6
Rhys didn’t bother to hide his relief and elation that he had been able to master it, though at this point it was no longer as difficult as it had been for him in the beginning. Which was saying a lot, since in the beginning it had been pretty bad. Still, even if he had the hang of it now, he’d earned it with a great deal of work and practice.
The half breed who had been his partner for most of it now greeted the news with disinterest, though it struck Rhys as feigned. {Oh, finally done, are you?} said the half breed, making a show of inspecting his claws. {It’s about time. I have better things to do than babysitting the likes of you, little worm.}
Rhys had to fight the urge to laugh. Now that he was no longer overawed by being in the half breed’s presence, he flattered himself that he could sense when the half breed was putting up a front. Well, maybe he was wrong, but the half breed had still helped him with this, even if it was only at Rabbit’s request.
So, rather than rising to the bait, he only said, warmly and with feeling, {Thank you.}
20
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Oct 19, 2019 22:47:31 GMT -6
Rhys, Hardy: End
The half breed glanced at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, before returning to what he had been doing. But Rhys felt like, maybe, a little, some of his sentiment had gotten through to the half breed anyway.
{Say,} said Rhys. {Do you… have a name?}
{What, like the human gave to you? I wouldn’t let myself sink so low,} said the half breed.
Rhys blinked. He had half expected the half breed not to dignify his question with a response. Thinking it over, he said, {Then, one you chose yourself?} he ventured.
For a long time, there was no response. Just as Rhys was about to give up on receiving an answer, however, the half breed said, {Nothing I would share with the likes of you.}
That was what he had said, anyway. And yet, Rhys couldn’t shake the feeling that this was some of that same bluster--- that, maybe, the half breed hadn’t really thought about the matter before now.
{Well, if you change your mind someday, I’d love to hear it,} said Rhys. {I can’t keep calling you ‘hey you’ forever.}
{If you call me that, I will flatten you on the spot,} drawled the half breed. {If you must address me, ‘Your Magnificence’ will suffice, for now.}
{... I’ll keep that in mind,} said Rhys, intending nothing of the sort. It was funny, he almost wanted to laugh. Maybe these big creatures weren’t all that scary after all, when you got to know them a little.
21
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:15:50 GMT -6
Now that Rhys's work with Rabbit was done, she was resuming her work with the half breed. It was interesting how both had asked her to assist them with improving their combat capabilities. In Rhys's case, he had had a specific goal in mind, though in the grand scheme of things, Rabbit did not feel that he was well suited to combat in a general sense. The things he was capable of were better suited to mending the injuries of others, or at best confounding and hampering enemies.
Within his own weight class, perhaps… But even then, his successes had been mixed.
The half breed, on the other hand, had the makings of a formidable fighter. His request--- not that he would have called it as such, necessarily--- belied his inexperience, however. Despite his fearsome looks, apparently he was not well versed in making use of his abilities, or even in the basic stratagems and rhythms of fighting.
1
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:17:17 GMT -6
Start: Rend
Whatever his previous situation had kept him for, he had not been used for pit fighting. That much, Rabbit could ascertain.
As such, she felt that it was best to start him off with something basic. When the two of them returned from one of their daily gym sessions, she presented him with a selection of wooden logs and boards. "Today, we will continue your work on combat training, as you've requested," she said. "Let us begin with a simple attack. When I give the signal, please rake the board with your claws." She considered telling him that it would be acceptable to do so gently at first, to test the sensation of it, but she guessed that it might produce the opposite of her desired result and glad him into deliberately throwing himself into the exercise. In the end, she decided it was best to say nothing more and leave it at that.
2
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:18:19 GMT -6
The creature looked unfazed, having recovered much of his energy on the walk back from the gym, and clearly not concerned about what Rabbit had set up or asked of him, especially as it was in line with what he himself had requested. "Very well. Rend," said Rabbit.
The creature did as she asked and raked his claws over the board.
His claws didn't penetrate very deep, but that was enough for Rabbit's purposes. She hadn't asked him to do anything further yet, and for the moment all she wanted was for him to get used to the motion.
"Again," said Rabbit. "Rend." This time she held back and did not guide him through the motion with her own touch, but he raked his claws over the wood again. This time she could see him begin to dig into the wood a little on his own, though fortunately he was still not applying much force.
3
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:18:47 GMT -6
Rabbit did not correct this either; he was progressing on his own to wanting to make furrows into the wood, and so long as he did not try too much too soon, there was no need to impede him.
She asked him to repeat the motion a few more times, by the end of which he was actively digging his claws in. Rabbit watched his technique as he applied more and more force, just in case, but he experienced no trouble with it. It wasn't a difficult maneuver lor a creature of his body composition to lay his claws into a target, even if that target was tough, like wood.
By the end of this stretch, the creature was beginning to look at her with an air of exasperation as she gave the command to him. Evidently he had had enough of practicing this, whatever it was, and if she did not move on with it one way or another, there would be the threat of mutiny.
4
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:19:28 GMT -6
Or, barring that, at the very least a protest of boredom. He had begun, so Rabbit suspected, to respect the idea that she did have plans in mind when she planned these training sessions, but even the patience extended by that would only go so far.
"Good," said Rabbit, wrapping up that particular stage. "I believe you can feel how best to apply your claws into a hard surface like this. Now we will move on to applying an even greater amount of force."
She took away the board and brought him to a heavy log, which was propped up as a larger and already bore many scratches and furrows from past attempts by other creatures. "Now when I give the signal, please strike this as hard as you safely can with your claws. Please in mind the threshold at which you may cause harm to yourself, and do your best to avoid it."
5
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Feb 26, 2020 19:20:18 GMT -6
Now the exasperation was on display in full force, the creature huffing as if to dismiss the very idea as he listened to her cautioning him against this and that. And perhaps Rabbit was being somewhat unfair for holding over his one incident of self injury over him for such a long time, but it was the sort of thing she remained on hand to prevent, and she intended to do her due diligence when she felt it necessary. If that inspired contempt then so be it.
At any rate, however, she did feel that he was ready. "Rend," she said.
The creature lifted orie foreleg and drew it back, then swiped at the log with a great deal more force than he had been using before. It spoke to the weight of the wood that it did not budge, even with all the force that had clearly been behind the blow.
6
|
|