Post by BlacKitten on Dec 4, 2014 15:17:00 GMT -5
OOC: Permission by Shinku granted to attack Kyou as planned.
Maru Post # 13
Like the time he first sparred with Pluto, he needed to gain an insight as to how his students fight, and Kyou saw this coming as the redhead attacked first without needing to be told.
“!” His eyes sharpened with his analysis and conclusions from his observation of Kyou’s peculiar draw of his sword. Maru didn’t simply use what he saw currently; he related it to what he saw in the past. Something was wrong here; the redhead lacked consistency.
Merely standing there, he waited for his opponent to come close to him while wielding the staff in one paw at his side. As soon as wooden sword came crashing straight down towards him, the panda was prepared to sidestep, but he halted the moment the attack was revealed to be a faint. Remaining in his exact spot, he shifted his feet, following his opponent’s change in direction that was attempted to sneak behind him.
Wow… he’s really being careful here. As I thought, he likes dirty tactics such as feints. It suits his cowardly personality.
Glaring at the boy in a sideways stance, he was confronted with an upwards swing. Outstretching a paw with the palm facing down, he timed himself just right to catch the wooden sword near the tip of the dull bladeless ‘blade’. It was a training weapon after all, and if Kyou chose this as his weapon of choice, then the boy should not be surprised for it to be caught barehanded. “I see,” he murmured, “there’s no weight behind your swings.”
He turned his waist while advancing a large sliding step forward, pulling the sword in one hand and pushing it his bo staff with his other hand. The roundish tip of the staff pressed the redhead’s solar plexus, pushing forth with a penetrating force as the weapon pinned the boy against the tree behind. Maru’s weapon was from this very tree, and it was this tree that shall lead to the Mari-Sue’s defeat.
I’ll admit that he is more experienced than Pluto when it comes to fighting, but he is less disciplined.
A single strong puncturing strike to the solar plexus wasn’t fatal, but it inflicted a large amount of pain to the victim. One of the most common and popular spots to aim at in martial arts, this spot would affect the diaphragm to spasm, making breathing a lot more difficult. Maru retracted his staff back, holding it vertically as one end pressed against the earth.
“Mari-Sue,” he had to hold back from laughing at the name, “I cut off our fight quickly because there is something clear to me. When you wore your sword on your right hip, I thought you would draw it out with your left hand, but oddly enough, you drew it out with the hand on the same side. Then, I thought that maybe it was just your style until I noticed how you gripped your sword. You held your weapon correctly if you were right handed that is, but Mari-Sue, you are left handed. When you ate those fruits nearly a week ago, you held them in your left hand. When you held those containers to aid your sunburn, you opened the lid with your left hand. You are left handed, and you even wear your sword like a left-handed swordsman. But as long as you swing your sword with your weaker arm, you’re not using your full potential.”
As to why and how the boy would mix up the dominant hand was beyond him, but this should be the number one thing to correct for now.
If he and Pluto have both asked me to teach them, then they both practically admitted that they’re both weak. That is a wonderful first step: to recognize and accept that you’re weak.
However pointless it may be, the doubting thoughts that he wouldn’t grow strong enough kept lingering in his head. He was at a disadvantage in every single way no matter how one looked at it. The opposing side possessed information about him throughout the past week, and Pluto knew nothing about them. All practitioners from this island had years of training and practice while he only had one week of cramming concepts and principles into his mind and body.
As odd as it felt, he had grown more dependent towards Maru who was the only reliable makeshift of an instructor on this island willing to socialize with outsiders. He wasn’t mad that the panda accepted the challenge because when reflecting upon his past in a bigger perspective, this was a wonderful opportunity to grow as a more competent fighter. Defending himself from the ‘real’ threats and protecting a certain someone, those were his ultimate goals, and Maru’s training will allow him to take one step closer to reach those goals. As sadistic as the panda’s approach appeared to be, it was working. If a version of himself from one week ago was to appear right in front him as of now, he was sure that he could defeat him. There were so many things that he knew now where he didn’t know before. He felt grateful.
Never before had he held these urges for comparisons. He would compare Maru with the Berserker or even with the Grandmaster and daydream these hypothetical fights as to who would win. Just how much of a gap was there between his teacher and himself? How long would it take for him to surpass that fur ball?
Trees soon surrounded him more tightly with the scenery painted in fresh green. Suddenly, a small shadowy figure dashed towards the boy from behind, and being distracted with thoughts, Pluto was taken down to the ground in a heap!
“Eh?” His head looked up from a lying position on his stomach. Something tackled his back which was now weighing him down, but the clingy sensation gave away as to who his mysterious attacker was. “Rebecca! What are you-,” he was cut off abruptly.
“Pluto,” the girl whined, “I missed you!” She then buried her face into her brother’s back, producing sobbing like noises even though she wasn’t crying. “Why are you never with me anymore? I rarely get to see you.”
The expression on his face was a sign of defeat, “You made friends with Yui, right? Why not hang out with her some more?” He tried to stall his absences by finding ways to keep his little sister busy even though it was clearly a waste of breath.
A soft smile grew from the memories of that girl, “Yui is so kind! I like her!” Innocent round eyes widened on her curious face, “Why have you been hanging with that talking bear? What have you two been up to?”
“A lot of things have happened…,” he answered vaguely, “it looks like we’re stuck on this island for at least another two weeks before we can find a way off this place. Most people here aren’t exactly friendly towards strangers like us. We’re pretty lucky to meet the 1% of the population that doesn’t act hostile towards us.” The feeling of some weight pressing against his back felt comforting as much as he hates to admit it.
Pressing her face against her brother, she murmured, “is it that important that you’re with Maru? I know you’re not with him for the sake of fun. You never have fun.”
“Yeah,” he said softly, “I’ll need Maru for the next two weeks.” This was going to be problematic. How was he supposed to keep this clingy girl busy for two whole weeks when she typically does nothing but follow him around in her free time? The thought of having her around during his training sounded just plain embarrassing. As if he was performing a pushup, he heaved the both of them up and stood there while brushing off the stains of dirt off his clothing.
Out from the trees, Yui entered the scene. “Ah! Rebecca!” She called out lovingly. “You came to give your brother a hug? How cute!”
“Wonderful,” Pluto exclaimed sarcastically, “it’ll be cuter if she hugs you for the next two weeks.” He pushed Rebecca forward, “Pretend that she’s your new sibling. Cya!” After shoving the responsibility to Yui, he sauntered off.
“Oh?” The older girl smiled, “Does that make us siblings as well?”
“…,” the boy halted his steps, letting those words sink in, “I don’t think I need another one!”
“Come with me, Rebecca. I want to talk to you about something,” she held the little one’s hand and dragged her away.
Deeper into the woods, he instantly spotted the black and white blob after glancing past a tree; not even a color-blind person could miss it. The sight of seeing the panda thrusting a branch-like pole against Kyou who was pinned against the tree had made him wonder what the redhead did this time to anger his teacher.