[1v1] So Train Me, Maybe? (Yin and Leo) [Fin]

[ramenli]

What would have been truly surprising was if Yin was not spending a good portion of his day in the gymnasium, training. And of course, the mantodae had no intention of surprising anyone like that. There he was, with one of the training dummies. Perhaps because he was there so often, and he spent so much time there, the training dummies had at some point (not that he would ever, ever admit it) received simple names in his head, references to opponents...almost friends, that he had grown up with.

That was it, there was no talking to them or anything, it simply helped him to think about who he was fighting, trying to think of what moves would have been particularly effective against that opponent. His focus was not on anyone else in the gymnasium, there were the others that typically came to train and spar of course, and the miscellaneous visitors. But Yin merely trained for himself, so there was no real reason to be concerned with them. He wrapped up his attacks to this particular dummy and finally stopped, debating if he should take a break to get a drink.  

[Ephebe]

She'd gone to the gym on a sudden whim to try and improve her battle skills. Well, the idea of improving wasn't really a 'whim' or anything new, but usually she was too busy just staying afloat in her classes to actually do something about it.

But today, today she was surprisingly caught up on all her homework and reading. And to be honest, she needed a break. Desperately. But sitting still and doing nothing didn't really appeal to her, and she'd already done the exercises Mei had shown her a ton of times today. Therefore, improving her battle skills it was!

But now, actually at the gym, she was a bit lost. More than a bit lost. She was really lost. There were sparring dummies, obviously, and people practising on them, and there seemed to be some other equipment too. Frankly, she had no idea where to begin. Wasn't there like, proper battle forms and stuff? But she'd never learnt any, so what could she do? Her first thought was going to the library, but she had the distinct feeling that reading or seeing the forms in a book wasn't going to help her at all.

Aw. Apparently she'd come all this way for nothing. Mind you, it wasn't that long a way from the monster dorms to the gym - but it felt very anticlimatic for her little adventure of improving herself to end like this.

Well, she was here now, might as well explore a bit. Leo walked between the practice dummies, surveying the gym as she went. Practice dummy, practice dummy, beat up practice dummy, someone attacking a practice dummy--

Wait. Leo stopped and stared, easily admiring the fluidity of the attacker's movements. So well done! So professional! So stylish! And then he stopped, seemingly for a little break, and she realised she actually knew him. Well. Kind of. This was Yǐn Cáng, the boil that Alexander had introduced to her.

Well, that made them acquaintances, and it was alright for acquaintances to go have a chat! "Hey!" She beamed at him as soon as she got to his spot. "That was awesome!"

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

The cheerful greeting rang out and Yin froze before turning his head to look, just to make sure that whoever was speaking was not actually talking to him. It was his complete and utter surprise that she was. "Greetings Miss Leo," he said with a small dip of his head in recognition.

The utter cheerfulness, coupled with a compliment, was getting to him. He looked rather embarrassed, not quite like he wanted to duck behind a training dummy or under one of the mats but close enough. "It was not much Miss Leo." He brightened up the smallest bit. If she was here did that mean..."are you here to train? What type of training do you usually do?" Oh no, he was getting a bit forward in his enthusiasm. She could have just come to the gymnasium to speak to someone or for a bit of casual exercise. "If I may be so bold as to ask that is."

Ephebe

Late quote is late, hard to get pre-meta muse to work XD

 

[Ephebe]

He looked a bit embarrassed she thought, but he was probably just a modest boil. Which made it even cooler. "Oh no, you don't need to call me Miss or anything, Leo's just fine!" She grinned at him. "And er, well... I was kinda hoping to do something to get better at battling? Only then I got here and realised I don't quite know what to do." She looked sheepish. "Kinda stupid of me, huh?"

ramenli

No worries at all, take your time <33

 

[ramenli]

She knew not what she did. Yin's face faltered ever so slightly when she spoke. Why could not all the ghouls he met just accept a nice and proper title? It made it much more difficult when they were like this. Like Lady Hel for example, who was so finicky he just flat out avoided saying her name. "As you wish, Mistress Leo."

If all she wished was to try out some battling skills...that was something he could assist her with though. "No, it is not foolish at all Mistress Leo. It is a good thing that you desire to improve yourself. If you would like...I could try to teach you a few things?" He looked a bit flustered. "There are much stronger students at this school but I should be able to help with the basics?"

Ephebe

If you get on aim prod me? ouo

 

[Ephebe]

Okay, that was definitely worse. "Uh, I guess 'miss' is fine then. I'm not really a mistress or anything." She laughed a bit awkwardly.

He would help her? Her face lit up again, all awkwardness forgotten. "You would? Seriously? That would be... that would be awesome! You're so good, I'm sure you're one of the best!" She took a moment to think that over. "And if you aren't now, you surely will be soon if you keep practicing like this." Needless to say, Leo was very impressed by his skills. In fact, now that she thought about it, she didn't think she'd ever seen anyone better - not even on the Dragonfell adventure, although admittedly, she hadn't been paying much attention to how the others battled on that trip. She turned the full force of her admiring gaze on the poor boil. "You're really, really good."

ramenli

Yes, I'll try again later tonight! <3

 

[ramenli]

Yin started to brighten up. She was fine with Miss? Oh that certainly made things much, much easier. "So be it Miss Leo," he said almost cheerfully.

That cheerfulness would soon vanish. First it was just mild embarrassment, because really, being spotlighted, even if only by one person, was strange. He liked being complimented on his skills though. Then it began to turn to a mixture of fear and horror as she seemed to be...gazing at him like he was something special and continued pouring out compliments. Oh Great Mantis no. Unfortunately there was no one else there for him to try to praise their skills, like how he might have tried to convince a certain reaper of Alexanders skills so long ago.

Nervous he tried to shrug it off, certainly uncomfortable. "Thank you but...um...maybe we should just practice on training?" He sounded so very hopeful at the idea. "Perhaps you should take some practice shots and we shall see where you are at now and if I have any advice for you and then we could try a spar?" He just hoped that maybe, maybe something else would catch her attention. So she would not continue to stare at him.  

[Ephebe]

"Right!" She'd gotten a bit off-track there, hadn't she? It was no wonder though; if Amrita was the example of How To Treat Other People, Yǐn Cáng was definitely the example of How To Beat Things To A Pulp. And Leo knew she needed all the help she could get.

"So... I just take a swing at you? Okay, I can do that." She paused - he'd be alright, wouldn't he? Of course he would, he'd been the one to suggest it. She'd have to bow to his expertise in this matter, because it was obviously greater than her own.

"Alright then, here I go!" She aimed a punch at his arm, nearly squinting in concentration. Okay, that didn't exactly feel like the super punch she'd wanted it to be. Meh.

((2 points of dmg))  

[ramenli]

"Precisely," he said, simply standing there. He did not get into a defensive position, he actually wanted her to hit to see just where she was at. His eyes followed her movements, taking notes on her stance and movements without conscious thought really, just instinctively taking it in.

Her punch had been fairly good actually. "You hold your thumb correctly, which is key because you would not want to break it. Your first two knuckles were lined up with your arm, which is also important because both of those two could cause damage to your hand. However, you want to tilt you wrist down slightly," he held up his arm and demonstrated. "If you hit your opponent with your fingers you can hurt yourself, and you will also get more damage out of your attack if you strike with your knuckles. Tilting your wrist should ensure that your knuckles impact first."

Really, there was a lot to be taught just for punching. "You also need to focus on your hips. You want to move them in the direction you are throwing the punch for more control and impact." Hopefully that would all make sense, and just in case he got prepared to block, or even dodge her hit. There was no use in standing still for a powerful attack after all.

Ephebe

BS fighting stuff....go!

 

[Ephebe]

She listened intently and made the corrections when he showed her how. Wow, he really did know what he was doing! She was tempted to smile a silly, happy smile at him, but now was not the time. This was Serious Time. Serious Practice Time and she wouldn't waste it - he'd requested that they focus on training, and she wouldn't be an ungrateful bint by going against his wishes. After all, he was helping her a lot here, despite that they were only acquaintances and hardly even knew each other.

She figured that said a lot about his character, even if he did insist on calling her weird things. She could live with that (well... maybe not if he insisted on calling her 'Mistress') because he was obviously a good, nice boil. Much like Alex was, she thought happily. Maybe she could make friends with Yǐn Cáng too! That'd be awesome!

And then she noticed that she'd been lost in thought for a moment too long. Oops. At least she'd listened well and heard everything he was saying first, though. "Right, that makes a lot of sense." She nodded, moving her fists back in the position he'd shown her and tilting her hips slightly so it'd be easier to move them when she punched. "Okay, I think I'm ready to go again!"

She let a punch fly, aiming for his stomach and concentrating on following his advice. "Okay, wow...!" She stared at her hand, gobsmacked. "That was definitely much better! That was awesome!" She couldn't contain her jubilant smile this time, but she did manage to restrain herself just before hugging him. "That was fantastic!"

((5 dmg))

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

She seemed to be taking him seriously, and that was a relief. He watched her shift, not a perfect fighting stance but it did give her much more to work with. He nodded, ready to watch her next attempt. However, he had not really expected her to go straight for his stomach, and even though she gave it away when she started to move it was too late to actually dodge. What that meant was that he got to feel first hand the affects of his teaching.

"Indeed Miss Leo, you seemed to have improved quite a bit." He lifted his hand to his stomach as if to acknowledge the blow. "Now then, you also need to think about your next move when you hit. Let your arm carry through with the blow even after you've struck, and then you need to be prepared to defend. Bring your arm back and be ready to dodge, or take a hit." He demonstrated by raising his arms in front of him defensively. "Go ahead and attack once more but after this blow I will take the offensive and we will turn this into a proper spar."

He was ready for her this time, even if his stance was different than the one he had just shown her. His hands were almost limp, drawn up in the style that he practiced, looking forward to the fight ahead.

HP: 33 (Forgot to put this in last time rofl)

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Right." She nodded seriously, feeling more ready to do battle - even if it was just a spar - than she ever had been. She stored the new tips he'd given her in the back of her mind, carefully taking the position she'd had last time she punched him. Once again she went forward, shifting her hips and aligning her knuckles as he'd told her, and she went for the chest this time. Her fist connected, and although it hadn't been as good as the prior attempt, it was still better than anything she usually did. A satisfied little smile danced on her lips as she went to draw back out of Yin's reach.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Yin took the blow, automatically retaliating even as the damage registered. He did not curl his hand into a fist, rather he struck out with his palm, aiming for her arm in an attack that Alexander would have recognized and probably been annoyed by. It was just a stinging slap, but quick enough that it would be extremely difficult to dodge. Light, quick blows, this was the style he chose.

"You are doing extremely well," he admitted honestly, a tiny bit surprised. Normally his instructions did not seem to sink in, but this ghoul seemed to be thriving.

HP: 29
Damage: 2  

[Ephebe]

"You think so?" Her hand itched to go soothe the spot he'd attacked - it stung surprisingly much for something that hadn't done that much damage.

Getting a bit carried away in her eagerness, she tried to imitate his form and do what he'd done to her, a slap that stung. It... kind of failed. Oh well, she thought a bit sheepishly, that might have been over-estimating herself a bit. "Sorry about that. I kinda just... yeah. That did so not work."

HP: 28/30
Dmg done: 1 LOL

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Yin gave her a small razor-sharp toothed smile. "The style of fighting that I use is not one well known to others, and more difficult than your basic fighting style." Her attack had still worked however, and that was what was important.

"I focus on speed rather than power, sometimes multiple hits in rapid succession." His hand lashed out again, striking for exactly the same spot on her arm. Of course, his speed meant that he was also supposed to dodge out of the way, which he seemed to not be doing a good job with.

HP: 28/40
Damage: 3

Ephebe

TRALALA PRETENDING TO FIGHT