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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 7, 2013 0:09:55 GMT -8
Lucien's attack was once again thwarted, though this time he was only blocked, and deflected, instead of being knocked to the ground. Kazuya must have been serious about this training, as to give him hints to mask his movements. Also, Lucien was reminded of an old anime character as his hair stood up on end and a red aura surrounded the man. Kaioken?
Lucien took a few moments, slowly stepping backwards until he was just in front of the small body of water. It made a small trickling sound as it bubbled downstream. It was barely enough noise to mask anything... Unless...
Lucien spotted a rock by his foot, and bent down to pick it up. Since he was well out of Kazuya's range, and not making much sound, he figured it was safe to take a few seconds. From this view, he looked just as threatening, just as alert... Just as focused.
Lucien would sneak slowly around Kazuya, making a wide slow arc around the man until he was parallel with the man, making a triangle with the river's edge. He would smoothly lob the rock in his hand towards the river, landing it with a large plop sound.
Lucien would then immediately attack the hopefully exposed flank, aiming a downwards punch to the man's bottom ribs.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 7, 2013 12:52:36 GMT -8
Taking the time Lucien was using to put his plan into motion, Kazuya would focus and calm his mind, letting all the sounds of his environment flow through his mind, and pick out the sounds that were of importance. The river, gently trickling downstream, the gentle breeze that blew through the area. Lucien barely making any sound at all, that was good, he was learning, and Kazuya would have to rely on more than just his hearing now.
Keeping his arms up and to his sides as guards, the sound of a loud plop issuing from his left would catch Kazuya's attention momentarily, only to turn at the very last second, having detected the rushing sound of a punch. Instead of Lucien's punch connecting with the bottom of Kazuya's ribs, he would end up punching Kazuya's arm.
Backing up, Kazuya would then stand on top of a flat rock in the middle of the river, making it a little more difficult for Lucien to move around silently, but if he used the river to his advantage, he would be able to get more than just one hit on Kazuya.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 7, 2013 14:02:00 GMT -8
Lucien's attack met Kazuya's beefy arm, and, again, Lucien got hurt more than Kazuya did. His fist hurt.
As Kazuya backed up onto the rock in the river, Lucien crept forward beside him, thinking of how best to, at this point, trick the budoka.
The river splashed and sloshed beside him when he met the shore, and a single step in such would give away his position. As the young man thought about what his next plan would be, he absently dipped his finger in the water, causing no splash or detectable (by Lucien) sound. And somehow, being in contact with the water... He felt 100% better. Like he hadn't been just dropped on the ground multiple times. He wasn't even out of breath. And he knew what to do.
Oh, but I'll get my hair wet...
Lucien slowly sunk into the water, keeping as much air in his lungs as he could before completely submersing. His hair bothered him, but the river was calm, and he floated softly towards Kazuya. He waited a few seconds, before slowly, silently reaching his hands out of the water, quickly grabbing the back of Kazuya's ankles, and tugging them out from under him.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 7, 2013 14:35:51 GMT -8
Kazuya listening to the sounds of the river while at the same time, visualizing the river bubbling and flowing beneath the rock platform he stood on, Lucien coming up silently behind him, becoming much better, he would find his ankles tugged out from under him, but as that happened, Kazuya would bend backwards, arching his back and diving backwards over Lucien.
Slamming his hands down on Lucien's shoulders, he would try to use the young Crow as a spring board of sorts, and vault off of him, flipping in mid-air and landing on his feet in the water, a human rock in the middle of the river.
"You have improved tremendously young Crow. But I am not down for the count. Can you beat me?"
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 7, 2013 23:39:16 GMT -8
Lucien didn't even know what happened this time, but somehow Kazuya was behind him in the river. He turned around, facing Kazuya at the mention of the challenge.
That... Was only slightly condescending...
Lucien realized he still had his staff in his hand, and grasped it, swinging it from side to side to raise water up, to splash Kazuya. Using this as a distraction, he aimed for an extended strike with his staff, using his full reach to try to hit Kazuya in the neck.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 8, 2013 10:52:45 GMT -8
As slightly condescending as his words sounded, Kazuya honestly wanted to see if Lucien could beat him. Though he was twice as strong as Lucien, even though he was holding back and blindfolded, he wanted Lucien to learn to use everything in his environment to his advantage against his opponent. One did not have to be incredibly strong to take down a stronger opponent, if they could outmaneuver and outwit their opponent in a game of strategy.
There was a reason Kazuya was standing in the river, and not on a rock platform though. As Lucien swung his staff from side to side, to raise water up, Kazuya could feel the water current moving faster and faster as it splashed against his legs, which meant it was not naturally increasing in speed, but forced to move faster. Without hesitation, Kazuya would slam his hand down on the rock bed beneath him and cause a flame pillar to completely surround him as Lucien went in for the extended strike with his staff, the flames hot enough to evaporate the water splashed at him, but not hot enough to evaporate the area of the river he stood in.
If the staff came through the flame pillar, feeling the wind from the strike just above his head, using it as a starting point, Kazuya would burst through the flame pillar, running his hand just above the staff, to help him pinpoint and locate Lucien's position, and would launch a simple roundhouse kick when he was certain he was close enough.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 10, 2013 18:43:02 GMT -8
Lucien was amazed by the sudden display of power in Kazuya's fire shield. It seemed way more powerful, and useful, than Lucien's own power. There was only so many things to do with invisibility, after all...
But, he didn't have much time to be awestruck, since a wicked roundhouse kick was coming right for his head!!
Lucien could only lean back in time to- Naw, he got hit in the face.
His body flew down towards the riverbed, landing with a sploosh in the shallow water. Luckily, his head didn't hit the bottom, but it still felt like a sledgehammer. Curiously enough, though he was shaken, when he was submerged, he felt like he was being healed...
Scrambling up, he felt light-headed as he rose. Stumbling through the water, sloshing it around, he tried desperately to stable himself, as his position was very compromised. Leaning on his staff, he steadied, looking at Kazuya with eyes that said Oh, come on...
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 11, 2013 10:37:52 GMT -8
As Kazuya was blindfolded, he was unable to see Lucien's 'Oh, come on..." expression on his face. Temporary lapse in memory, Greg? XD The flame pillar behind Kazuya dying down, much like his opponent, Kazuya did not know that water healed Lucien, but even if he did, it would not make a difference to Kazuya.
Although this spar was mainly meant to help train Kazuya to react simply by intuition to attacks coming from his left side, this also ended up becoming training for the young Crow, to teach him how to use everything in his environment to his advantage against the opponent.
Kazuya would offer no respite to Lucien, because Barker's men would never give the young Crow a chance for recovery from a blow. Moving with light, quick footsteps through the water, Kazuya would launch a simple flat palm strike, taking care to hit as softly as possible. He was quite sure Delilah would not be pleased to see one of her fellow Crows shattered into a million pieces.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 11, 2013 19:54:54 GMT -8
{OOC: Naw, I remembered. Lucien would have made the look anyways.}
As he looked on, he saw Kazuya advance, and swiftly moved his upper body to avoid the palm strike, making sure to keep his feet in the same position. He knew that the man was holding back, but his hits still felt like a cannonball.
Lucien hoped that he could keep his stable base, because he didn't feel like sloshing around to create noise. He would keep his knees bent as to facilitate movement and balance, and kept his upper body loose, as he sent strikes flying for Kazuya's body. Thumb strikes.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 11, 2013 21:49:48 GMT -8
His flat palm strike hitting nothing but air, with his other hand kept in front of his body, Kazuya would closely listen to the sounds of nature, hearing the river gently bubble, the wind gently blow... and the sounds of fast-paced wind whistling towards him. Kazuya would manage to block most of the strikes, pulling his other arm back while doing so, but a few managed to hit him, though he would barely flinch from the pain. Wasting little time, unleashing his full speed, Kazuya would attempt to get behind Lucien, and launch a simple palm strike to his back, holding his strength back to the point that it would simply send Lucien stumbling forward, as opposed to flying downstream. He'd then take up a simple stance, granting the Crow a chance to recover and make the next move. |
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 11, 2013 22:21:46 GMT -8
Lucien did, indeed, stumble forward, after being caught off-guard yet again by the super-speedy Kazuya. Catching himself a few feet forward, he spun around, and saw Kazuya take up the peculiar stance.
Lucien took a moment to catch his breath and think about his next move. Being sneaky, silent and stealthy hadn't really been working that well in this situation. So, he thought, maybe I should try the opposite?
Lucien jumped around, splooshing the water around him and creating large splashes, with lots of noise. He jumped from side to side, and then back and forth, and then, when it seemed like Kazuya was going to strike, he would jump to his side, right on top of the rock to his flank, and land silently. Then, he would quickly spin and kick Kazuya, hopefully in the back of the head.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 12, 2013 7:41:54 GMT -8
Being sneaky, silent, and stealthy would work just fine for Lucien... if he ever found himself up against Barker's men. Their senses were probably not as finely-tuned as Kazuya's was becoming, which is how he was able to block Lucien's strikes, despite being blindfolded. Bombarded with large splashes from all sides, as he was completely soaked, he would smile slightly. Lucien had the right idea, trying to confuse Kazuya by creating as much noise as he could to mask his own movement.
On the last splash, it gave Kazuya a general sense of where Lucien was, and restricting his speed once more, would dart forward, however, instead of launching a strike as Lucien predicted, with his arms trailing loosely behind him, he'd fire streams of flames from his hands, not only propelling him forward, hopefully shooting past Lucien and avoiding his strike, but also causing steam to arise from the flames making contact with the water, fog enveloping the area.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 12, 2013 22:03:57 GMT -8
As Lucien's kick barely missed, and fog lifted from the stream, he was slightly shocked by the notion of the a slightly less even playing field.
But, wasting no time, seeing the flames rising from Kazuya's hands, he would shuffle a step forward and aim a snap kick for the right side of Kazuya's face.
Hopefully this one worked, because the constant moving on his opponent's account was making it difficult to aim long range attacks.
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Post by Kazuya Hikari on Mar 12, 2013 22:30:31 GMT -8
Just as the fog hindered Lucien, so to, did it hinder Kazuya, a double-edged sword of sorts. Just as the streams of flames would die down from Kazuya's hands, Lucien's aim would fly strong and true, and the kick would slam right into the side of Kazuya's face, pushing him back.
Brushing the back of his hand against his cheek, the kick barely drawing any blood but just leaving Kazuya's face slightly sore, with the flames out, Lucien had no visual aids to help him find Kazuya. He'd have to rely on his senses from here on out, just as Kazuya had been doing. He would have to start with finding Kazuya in the fog, as he would circle around Lucien with light, quick steps.
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Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 13, 2013 23:13:40 GMT -8
Lucien felt the kick connect solidly, but... his foot hurt. It was like this guy was made of concrete...
And, now, the fog was so dense that Lucien couldn't see. But, as he quieted his mind, he heard a slight sound, like splashing to jump and land... All around him. After a moment, he felt slight ripples at his feet, licking up onto the rock's surface.
His opponent was trying to confuse him. And while doing so, gain ground and position closer to Lucien. So, obviously, the worst thing to do right now is panic.
Lucien calmed himself, and started spinning his staff in circles around him, then in a figure-8 pattern, then back to circles, and hoping that something would connect as Kazuya closed in. He tried to follow the sounds of the splashes, to aim his spins better... And of course a side-effect of which is that the high spinning staff would act as a fan, clearing away some of the fog. Hopefully, at least.
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