• Solo • Sea Legs (Graded)

[Praetorum]

Date: 15th of Ymiden, Arc 720

Status: Wobbly

Weapons: None

Armor: None

No Current Magical Effects

Prae enjoyed being on solid ground. He also enjoyed being in the water (more than he used to, now that he was a defier). 



He did not enjoy being on something solid floating on water. 



"I really don't see why we have to do this here." Prae groaned, shifting his footing again as the ship rocked. They'd only been at sea for a trial, and already Prae was sick of it, the constant swaying of the deck throwing his sense of balance entirely off. A wave slapped against the hull of the ship, and Prae stumbled to the side, scowling as he righted himself. 



"Hey, best to train in all sorts of conditions, right?" Clarissa grinned, walking easily across the deck of the ship towards him. "You never know when you're going to need to fight a pirate."


Prae groaned again. "You just want to kick my ass while you have the advantage." He accused. 



Clarissa winked. "So what if I do? I'm still right, and you should learn to fight at sea."


"I can fight on water." Prae grumbled, but gave in, taking a wide, solid stance. Immediately, he almost fell over as the ship pitched again, the heavy waves giggling almost apologetically at his mishap. 



"Clearly." Clarissa laughed. She took a stance as well, one that was evidently much stabler than Prae's. The ithecal narrowed his eyes, considering. He's sparred with Clarissa a few times over the course of their time together, and thought he had a pretty good grasp on her form—so it stood out to him that her starting position was a little different than normal. Her legs were a little wider apart than normal, and her whole body swayed subtly. It was, Suspicion noted, the same way the sailors moved, somehow walking mostly upright even as the deck beneath them wobbled wildly. 



Prae tried his Solum stance again, this time trying to pay more attention to his balance, and immediately stumbled as he felt his weight lurch to the side with each roll of the deck. The problem, he decided, was that Solum was a style that relied on being able to rigidly root yourself to the ground with your own weight, something that was impossible when the ground could not decide what direction it wanted to go. 


Evidently, his preferred style wasn't going to work here. And with the deck so unpredictable beneath him, Prae really did not want to try the leaping, sweeping motions that Ustrina required of him. 



That left Prae with two other options, both recently learned; Nomos, and Imber. Nomos was an interesting style, one that, like Ustrina, relied heavily on quick movements, though for the purposes of defense rather than offense. And like Ustrina, Prae was not confident in his ability to make those movements on a ship that seemed determined to throw him overboard. He'd have felt a lot more confident if he were allowed to use his defiance to aid his movements, but they had agreed, nothing but pure hand to hand combat for their spars. 



So, Prae would be using Imber, then. Well, he supposed it was rather appropriate, using the style Balthazar had based on water to fight at sea. Decided, Praetorum settled into another wide stance. Only, where Solum's stance had been rigid, immovable, Imber's was soft, ready to shift into a different set of motions at any time. It helped with balance more than he'd thought it would. The swaying of the deck beneath him was still somewhat nauseating, but at least now he wasn't falling over. 


"That's new." Clarissa noted.


"A friend of mine showed me a few tricks." And with that, Prae gestured for her to attack. 



"Always on the defensive." She laughed. "At least that's familiar."

[Praetorum]

Weapons: None

Armor: None

No Current Magical Effects

Clarissa was always quick on her feet, and now with half his concentration devoted just to keeping his balance, she seemed even faster. Before he knew it, she had closed the space between them, and sent a jab at his face, testing him on this new battleground. Twisting to the side, Praetorum brought one arm up to push her fist further behind him, using the motion to send a punch towards her side with his other hand. The blow glanced off her ribs as Prae's balance wobbled, and he swept his tail behind him, pivoting on one foot to try and steady himself. 



Clarissa was faster, bouncing back half a step to send a cross at his shoulder—a jab was one thing, but a fully wound up punch aimed at his much higher face never seemed to work out for her—which Prae started to sway to avoid, only for the boat to pitch him right back into its path. "The idea is to not get punched." Clarissa told him helpfully, ducking off to the side as Prae stepped forwards into a swing that was far clumsier than he would have liked. 



She sent another few rapid jabs at his shoulder, which he reflexively blocked before reminding himself that this form was more concerned with redirection than solid defense. When she ducked in closer and went for an uppercut, Prae twisted to avoid it, tail bracing himself against the deck as he used the momentum to transition to a roundhouse kick. 



That seemed to catch her by surprise, and his foot clipped her shoulder as she stumbled back. Righting himself from the kick proved the harder task, as the ship bounced like an overeager puppy at that moment, knocking Prae off balance with one foot still in the air. Catching himself with his hands, Prae was forced to throw himself across the deck as Clarissa darted in to kick him in the side; he started to get up, and nearly fell again as the ship lurched. 



"You're doing well." Clarissa called as she closed the distance between them again, cheerfully pressing her advantage. This time, Prae was slower in getting up, waiting until she was within reach, then sweeping his tail across the deck, forcing her to jump out of the way and nearly crash into a watching sailor. 



"I try my best." Prae growled, steadying himself against a railing. This was getting embarrassing. 



He sighed, trying to focus. In theory, Prae understood what he had to do with Imber—the martial art was all about flow, rhythm, and motion. To feel the direction his opponent was moving in, to understand how the ship beneath him tossed and turned, to figure out how to move his own body to complement the situation he found himself in; Prae understood that that was his path to victory, but this was all so new to him. He was so used to Solum's steady, almost passive approach to combat, and Ustrina's forceful, aggressive attacks, but this sort of slow, almost soft fighting style...


Prae shook his head. No time to feel off kilter; he'd just have to get used to it, and fast. 



He took a step forwards, feeling the deck of the ship swaying to one side, and shifting his weight to counterbalance himself. 



He could do this.

[Praetorum]

Relaxing his tail, Prae let it settle behind his back, swaying back and forth with every rocking motion of the boat. Using his tail as a counterbalance as he walked was so natural for him, but using it to counterbalance a motion out of his control was a deeply bizarre experience. It made walking into something he had to think about, and the more he thought, the worse he—


Prae let out a yelp as Clarissa darted in towards him, keeping low to launch a few punches at his stomach. Almost reflexively, Prae twisted into the beginning of a kick, using his tail as a brace against the ship's deck. But that wasn't quite right for Imber, so he transitioned quickly from a kick at her midsection to a sweep at her feet, keeping himself low enough to the ground that he could keep one hand on the deck for balance. 



Clarissa jumped over him, and in that instant where she was in midair with no way to control herself, he continued his momentum, spinning all the way around and catching her with his tail. She was quick though, just fast enough that she managed to avoid being wrapped up in his grip, and managed to drop herself to the deck. 



The escape unbalanced her though, and Prae was there a moment later with a palm strike to her shoulder to knock her over. Knocking Prae's arm aside with an elbow, Clarissa ducked to the side, and managed to catch Prae along the ribs with a glancing blow. 



Prae twisted, and retaliated with a punch at her arm, half expecting her to dodge away. Instead though, Clarissa made a half turn, and grabbed his arm. Prae only had a moment to be confused, before she suddenly turned her back to him and bent over, dragging his arm down with her just as the ship pitched once more. 



The combination of the two was too much for Prae's already precarious balance, and he let out a startled yelp as he was thrown over the much smaller human's shoulder, landing heavily on his back. 



"Ow." He grumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. 



"Oh hush. You've had worse." Clarissa laughed, helping him up. "One more?"


Prae sighed, carefully getting back on his feet as the ship tried its best to knock him over again. "Yeah." He said, readying himself. "One more."

[Doran]

Prae:

Knowledge:
Tactics: Sea Legs [1/1]
Unarmed Combat: Sea Legs [1/5]
Unarmed Combat: Sea Legs [2/5]
Unarmed Combat: Sea Legs [3/5]
Unarmed Combat: Sea Legs [4/5]
Unarmed Combat: Sea Legs [5/5]

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: Some bruises.
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: The beginning of the thread where you wrote that Prae enjoyed being on solid ground and being in the water, but not being on something solid floating on whater amused me. That was a great way to start!

I agree with Clarissa, by the way. It's best to train in all sort of conditions. I wonder if Prae will ever fight pirates. That's a fight I'd like to read!

Prae's reluctance to train on the ship was well-described.

I like how much attention you paid to the fact that Prae and Clarissa were training on the ship - and how that affected Prae's fighting (and which unarmed combat style he decided on).

The fight itself was well-written and easy to follow.

Enjoy your rewards!