Navian
Inactive Member
ZHS Courtyard - After Round One of the First-Year Tournament
The rain had cleared up, the grass was no longer damp, and the sky was showing some blue again by the time Sarena finally worked up the courage to approach where Takara was practising her forms, with a little help from a Piña Colada she'd finished. Both of them had recovered from the beatings they'd given each other, at least physically, but some wounds needed more than just time and medicine; it was easy enough to see. When Sarena came into view, Takara barely gave her a glance as she continued her katas, neither turning her head, nor saying a word in greeting.
"I, um... wanted to talk to you about the fight," Sarena began tentatively. She wasn't too surprised that Takara was angry, though she knew enough not to be sure whether it was at her or not. Her first impulse had been to apologize profusely for the injuries she'd caused, but that felt like it would be worse than gloating. It sometimes had been.
For a moment or two, it seemed like Takara would still just ignore her, but she finally bit before Sarena could think of something else to say. "What's there to talk about? You won. I lost. I need to train harder."
Sarena reeled for a moment, wringing her hands, before finally getting her thoughts in order. "The... the fight. I mean it. Maki-san, you're a better fighter than me. You didn't lose because you didn't train hard enough." It was unusual for Sarena to say anything with such conviction, though it still sounded more like a plea.
Takara was at first offended, then baffled. "Of course I did. Maybe you don't need to train as hard, because you have robot parts. I still need to train harder."
Sarena was feeling dizzy, though she wasn't sure whether to ascribe it to the medicine or the logic. "I don't..." It wasn't worth protesting what matter she was composed of. She refocused. "You would have won for sure if you'd just kept striking me until I couldn't stand. You left yourself open, it wasn't a lack of training." With the floodgates open, she pressed on. "When I threw you, you could have just flown away to regroup. But you came after me right away, and I was ready for that. You had everything you needed to win."
Takara was stunned. She stopped her practice, stood up straight, and stared at Sarena with wild eyes. Sarena cringed inwardly, for a moment certain she would be punched and receive a lecture, telling her she didn't know what she was talking about, and shouldn't speak to Nekos that way. Instead, Takara gaped, and shook her head in bewilderment. "You mean, I can win just by... just by..? I don't understand?!"
Though Sarena had never encountered this problem before, her mentors had. She remembered something she'd heard one of her mother's friends say to a new recruit who'd asked how anyone could possibly win when outnumbered and outgunned ten-to-one. "'By using tactics?'"
Takara's look of dumbstruck awe turned to joyous revelation. "I can do that? I thought that stuff was only for commanders! How does it work? Like, what do you do to use tactics in one-on-one fights?"
Having broken the ice, Sarena was now being carried away in the glacial flow. "Oh, ah..." She wasn't sure how to explain what she'd learned at Takara's level. "Well, a very good tactic is to attack from behind. That way they can't see you coming. Many think this is dishonourable, though."
"Oh, I don't mind!" Takara said, recalling Sarena's elbow strike to the back of the head, looking a bit cross-eyed in recollection of the jarring experience. "It's my fault for letting you get behind me, right? I just looked up what 'flanking' means in one-on-one fights, too! I have to research this more!" Before she got too excited and blew off her advisor to surf the net, she tried to think of what else to say. "So if I hadn't left myself open, or if I regrouped, you would have lost, then? Because you don't know how to fight me?"
Sarena, though maintaining a tight smile, was still halfway to frowning in consternation. She shook her head slightly before answering. "...I know how to fight you, but I'm way too slow, and... and..." Big? Awkward? Clumsy? She couldn't say it. "I can't get past your guard, and I can't stop you when you aim at my legs, without letting you hit me in the head, instead."
Takara pondered the matter, pacing rapidly back and forth. "I hit you in the legs a lot. You need to get tougher and learn to block! And you need to train harder to get faster and learn how to get past my guard!" She was proud and quite pleased to offer some advice of her own, especially when it fit so well with her own experience. Sarena smiled back at her, weakly. She felt pessimistic... but this was Zenjinkaze High School, after all, and she was still in the tournament. When or where would she ever get a better chance or reason to toughen up and train harder? She started with a firmer smile.
"Yes! I'm going to practice my shooting before my next match. And I need to learn to move faster... You're right, Maki-san."
"Of course I am!" said Takara, automatically, though it perhaps had less to do with how sure she was than how certain she liked to sound about things she knew. "And I think you're right, too. Assassins use tactics all the time, even when they work alone. I never really thought about it, before! I'm going to win all the tournaments, now, unless you train harder than ever!"
Though a good deal less certain of that than Takara was, Sarena still nodded. "I'll try?" Rei wasn't exactly a drill sergeant, but she was pretty sure that how hard the training was didn't correspond to how effective it was, exactly. Even Takara seemed to know that at some level; she'd stopped wearing barbed wire gloves or trying to smash concrete blocks with her bare hands, despite her friends having suggested them.
As they left the practice area to head off to dinner, Takara started creeping around to surprise Sarena, waving her arms and roaring when she'd floated or sidled into what she thought was a tactically advantageous position. Sarena offered a few pointers to the wound-be Nekovalkyrja assassin.
Hopefully, she wasn't creating a monster!
The rain had cleared up, the grass was no longer damp, and the sky was showing some blue again by the time Sarena finally worked up the courage to approach where Takara was practising her forms, with a little help from a Piña Colada she'd finished. Both of them had recovered from the beatings they'd given each other, at least physically, but some wounds needed more than just time and medicine; it was easy enough to see. When Sarena came into view, Takara barely gave her a glance as she continued her katas, neither turning her head, nor saying a word in greeting.
"I, um... wanted to talk to you about the fight," Sarena began tentatively. She wasn't too surprised that Takara was angry, though she knew enough not to be sure whether it was at her or not. Her first impulse had been to apologize profusely for the injuries she'd caused, but that felt like it would be worse than gloating. It sometimes had been.
For a moment or two, it seemed like Takara would still just ignore her, but she finally bit before Sarena could think of something else to say. "What's there to talk about? You won. I lost. I need to train harder."
Sarena reeled for a moment, wringing her hands, before finally getting her thoughts in order. "The... the fight. I mean it. Maki-san, you're a better fighter than me. You didn't lose because you didn't train hard enough." It was unusual for Sarena to say anything with such conviction, though it still sounded more like a plea.
Takara was at first offended, then baffled. "Of course I did. Maybe you don't need to train as hard, because you have robot parts. I still need to train harder."
Sarena was feeling dizzy, though she wasn't sure whether to ascribe it to the medicine or the logic. "I don't..." It wasn't worth protesting what matter she was composed of. She refocused. "You would have won for sure if you'd just kept striking me until I couldn't stand. You left yourself open, it wasn't a lack of training." With the floodgates open, she pressed on. "When I threw you, you could have just flown away to regroup. But you came after me right away, and I was ready for that. You had everything you needed to win."
Takara was stunned. She stopped her practice, stood up straight, and stared at Sarena with wild eyes. Sarena cringed inwardly, for a moment certain she would be punched and receive a lecture, telling her she didn't know what she was talking about, and shouldn't speak to Nekos that way. Instead, Takara gaped, and shook her head in bewilderment. "You mean, I can win just by... just by..? I don't understand?!"
Though Sarena had never encountered this problem before, her mentors had. She remembered something she'd heard one of her mother's friends say to a new recruit who'd asked how anyone could possibly win when outnumbered and outgunned ten-to-one. "'By using tactics?'"
Takara's look of dumbstruck awe turned to joyous revelation. "I can do that? I thought that stuff was only for commanders! How does it work? Like, what do you do to use tactics in one-on-one fights?"
Having broken the ice, Sarena was now being carried away in the glacial flow. "Oh, ah..." She wasn't sure how to explain what she'd learned at Takara's level. "Well, a very good tactic is to attack from behind. That way they can't see you coming. Many think this is dishonourable, though."
"Oh, I don't mind!" Takara said, recalling Sarena's elbow strike to the back of the head, looking a bit cross-eyed in recollection of the jarring experience. "It's my fault for letting you get behind me, right? I just looked up what 'flanking' means in one-on-one fights, too! I have to research this more!" Before she got too excited and blew off her advisor to surf the net, she tried to think of what else to say. "So if I hadn't left myself open, or if I regrouped, you would have lost, then? Because you don't know how to fight me?"
Sarena, though maintaining a tight smile, was still halfway to frowning in consternation. She shook her head slightly before answering. "...I know how to fight you, but I'm way too slow, and... and..." Big? Awkward? Clumsy? She couldn't say it. "I can't get past your guard, and I can't stop you when you aim at my legs, without letting you hit me in the head, instead."
Takara pondered the matter, pacing rapidly back and forth. "I hit you in the legs a lot. You need to get tougher and learn to block! And you need to train harder to get faster and learn how to get past my guard!" She was proud and quite pleased to offer some advice of her own, especially when it fit so well with her own experience. Sarena smiled back at her, weakly. She felt pessimistic... but this was Zenjinkaze High School, after all, and she was still in the tournament. When or where would she ever get a better chance or reason to toughen up and train harder? She started with a firmer smile.
"Yes! I'm going to practice my shooting before my next match. And I need to learn to move faster... You're right, Maki-san."
"Of course I am!" said Takara, automatically, though it perhaps had less to do with how sure she was than how certain she liked to sound about things she knew. "And I think you're right, too. Assassins use tactics all the time, even when they work alone. I never really thought about it, before! I'm going to win all the tournaments, now, unless you train harder than ever!"
Though a good deal less certain of that than Takara was, Sarena still nodded. "I'll try?" Rei wasn't exactly a drill sergeant, but she was pretty sure that how hard the training was didn't correspond to how effective it was, exactly. Even Takara seemed to know that at some level; she'd stopped wearing barbed wire gloves or trying to smash concrete blocks with her bare hands, despite her friends having suggested them.
As they left the practice area to head off to dinner, Takara started creeping around to surprise Sarena, waving her arms and roaring when she'd floated or sidled into what she thought was a tactically advantageous position. Sarena offered a few pointers to the wound-be Nekovalkyrja assassin.
Hopefully, she wasn't creating a monster!
