Ze Dojo - Day one

OOC: Sorry that it took so long. Hope you enjoy it. ^^

"A new sparing dojo has been opened, all are welcome. I wonder if I will be welcomed as well?" At the middle of a street somewhere in Amestris a man could be heard reading those words from a piece of paper that he found earlier while his youthful face held a rather large grin as he did so. It was the middle of the day, somewhere around two o'clock and this man was apparently done with whatever he had to do today so he was looking for activities which could entertain him and give him something to do while waiting for a report and new assignments from the military office. Cromwell Lusso was the name of this man and he was a second lieutenant in the Amestris army, stationed in Central at the moment, with no actual desire in life other than enjoying his time by doing the things which he loves. These things which he loved were not something that other people liked and so he was a man who did not have much friends or any sort of connection to other human beings. Well, its not like he cared anyways, his life was as perfect as it could be, at least according to his thoughts. At the moment Cromwell was wearing a simple dark gray shirt and a pair of simple white pants, with a pair of black shoes covering his feet. If one were to look at him they would see a normal everyday young man who was getting closer to his thirties rather quickly. But then again, a book could not be judged by its covers, since one was not always as he seemed to be. In this case, Cromwell was actually a complete opposite to what he seemed to be, he was more of a monster rather than a human being. But, then again, there is a lot of definitions to what a human being is and by looking at some of them this man could be defined as a human.

Anyways, as we return back to the actual story, Cromwell was slowly approaching the empty house where this dojo was supposed to be. It was a rather simple place, a large white house built in a traditional Japanese way, with most of the walls actually being made out of wood and some sort of paper. Well, that is at least how it all seemed to Cromwell who was quite new to this and he did not actually know what those things were. Upon entering the dojo he noticed that only a couple of people were there and they all had different training partners who trained with them by having a simple spar. This little show did not seem to attract the blond haired male so he left the room in which he was and entered another one, a really large and empty fighting arena which looked just like the one which he just left. There was a difference between these two areas, the one which he left had chairs and places where one could take a nap due to the size of some benches, plus there was a vending machine in one of the corners. On the other hand, the area in which Cromwell was, it was completely empty and he liked that. He opened the door to the arena so that people would know that they can enter it and then walked all the way to the center of the room. This large room or arena was shaped in a circle and it had a seven meter radius around the center, where at that moment Cromwell was standing. Actually, when he reached the center of the area, he sat there and waited for someone to come and challenge him. At the moment he did not care who was going to come, as long as he or she was ready to have a heated spar. "I just hope someone comes soon," the blond haired male would say as he awaited for his opponent.

It was really amusing to find a Dojo in Amestris considering the relationship between the warmongering - or used to be - amestrians and the Aerugese royalists was't and still not in a good shape but there she was, an aerugese kunoichi disguised as xingese citizen who was looking around for a certain individual only to stumble into this oriental edifice that taught the martial arts mostly of a southern origin. Interested to see the amestrian way of samurai and to see if they were able to handle a candle to the real deal, she trod forth and forward taking short glances, quick peeks and darting looks between here and there with a parasol at hand noticing pairs training with each other until she found an opened door which led to an arena and there at it's center lied a blonde haired male typical like anyone who inherited the will of amestris waiting for his opponent. How she was to able to tell? Well, she heard him wishing for someone to come soon. Indeed, how lucky he is.

The sitting male with all of the murderous intents buried within him not to be seen would hear a very quite footsteps as if it was a ghost leaving no trail of sound behind. If he looked at whoever caused such silent footsteps, he would find a female at her twenty of age with an hourglass oriental white skin, brown short hair adorned her head and a brown hair that matched the color of her eyes. Of course, she was disguised as usual dressed in a wide sleeved white shirt and black long loose skirt meant to hide her legs and shadow over the black outlined by white boots that concealed her white socks.

Spoiler:

You...lukkee...me...challenge...you. she officially announced her presence with her broken amestrian that reeked xingese away from him just a few steps.

OOC: Chibi post lawl, so unmotivated at the moment.

It did not seem as if the blond haired male was going to wait much for his opponent to come. Well, he wasn't gonna have to wait at all since, right after he finished his last sentence, a challenger appeared, or so it seemed. At first the male did not even notice this odd looking girl who was rather good at hiding her presence, even from someone with such a blood lust like Lusso. But, when he noticed her, just one word came out of his mouth. "Eh?" It did not seem as if he was expecting someone like that to appear, signs of confusion and disbelief were all over his youthful face. Its not that he did not expect a woman since frankly gender did not matter to him at this moment, it was the fact that this woman was not of the same origin like he himself. Lusso was a pure Amestrian and of the kind which was quite appreciated, a blond haired male with blue colored eyes, the proud member of his country. In Amestris, blue eyes and blond hair were the sign of the pure Arian blood which was something that they called the supreme race. However, lately, with the appearance of those immortal beings, the Arian blood was slowly being forgotten. Despite the difference in their origins, Lusso was not going to give up on this, he decided to accept the challenge and finally calm himself of his blood lust. To him it did not matter who won as long as blood got spilled along the way, that was the whole point of this sparing match. Right when the girls spoke some words in her apparently not so good Amestrian, the blond haired male quickly got up, facing her directly so that she could see his face and notice the killing intent on his face. He was ready and waiting for her to do the first move. "Ladies first."

So the amestrian blond decided to be gentleman and let her make the first move but no, she wouldn't do that. First thing to do was to demoralize him at such moment so she can beat the crap out of him. Oh, she really enjoys doing that to her opponents. He would see her raising a hand telling him to wait. She looked around with her golden marbles darting right and left looking for something, something tiny and flying while keeping her distance from him considering the probability that he remove his mask of manliness and cloak of gentleness at any moment on short and invisible notice.

She found her target, a fly roaming innocently around unaware that it was being under surveillance. Shizuka readied herself, with a hand clutching well to her parasol which acted as a sheath while her other hand held firmly to it's handle. In a split of a second, Lusso would see a quick white flash aiming for the fly, suddenly the flash disappeared and the fly continued on it's course. Lusso would understand that what she did was a fast drawing cut then immediately re-sheathing the blade. The question was why did the fly was still alive?

Fly..have...no...kids. she would tell the blonde blue eyed male. Would he believe that? that's not all what she had to say. "Can...you...do?" she asked him.

What would be his response?

OOC: Sorry for the delay. x.x

Well, things were not going according to what this male had planned, at all. He wanted to be a good gentleman and let her start this little spar by making a move that would force him to do something to counter that move and so the fight would start and yet this female did no such thing. Oddly, most people would actually use the right of the first move as a opportunity to use all their might to strike their foe so that they could not respond to their attack and thus win the fight right at the start. Due to that, those who are experienced at fighting and countering moves, they would prepare their best counter right at the start of the battle just in case if one was thinking about performing such an act against him. But, not only that, she even performed a show in front of his eyes as a mean to cause something within him. This didn't actually cause the effect which the female wanted since it only got the male confused about what she actually wanted. At this moment he was not even sure if she still wanted to fight or not, he was wondering about what her true intentions were, what made her come here. Since her reasons to him were unclear and her actions to him were also unclear, for him she was someone mysterious and beyond explanation.

What she did with her weapon, Russo saw that clearly, yet like mentioned before he was not sure why she did that. This spar was supposed to be one where they would test their martial arts and use their bodies to see who has the more honed one, since only the one who has more skill and better physical abilities could win. What the female did now just proved that her skills with a weapon were great and that she was rather fast when it came to drawing her weapon, but it did not tell him nothing of her martial arts or the rest of her physical skills so this act that she performed did not cause any change within the blond haired male. If she wanted to use this as a mean to kill his mood and hope that he would win. she failed. Besides, even if she tried to do something like that using something that Russo would understand, it would not work, at least on this man. This blond haired military officer was someone who never thought about winning or losing, he only thought about fighting and wetter he should take a hit or deliver a hit, or where should he take a hit. Honestly, he did not even think about that once a fight started, at that moment his mind would go blank and he would focus everything onto the fight at hand. Once the fight started, Russo would be out.

"Meaningless," that was the word which came out of the mouth of the blond haired male once she finished with her show, looking at the female with a paralyzing glare that would send shivers into the spines of any normal human. This look of his was full of coldness, a freezing glare that revealed the true self of this man, his killing intent was rather great, greater than that of a normal human being. Indeed, this man was a true killer, someone who lived his life to kill or be killed, to spill blood or to let it be spilled. His voice, it was also cold at this moment, it was not relaxed anymore since he did not want to wait anymore. "If you do not wish to start, I will." The time for talking was over, right when he spoke those words Russo let his jacket slide off his shoulders and arms so that he was only left wearing his black t-shirt. Once his dark coat hit the ground, the body of the blond haired male moved, a sprint towards the odd looking female had started and so did this little spar since at this moment the female had no other choice, she had to do something if she did not want for her blood to be spilled by this weird blond haired male. For the first move the male would just get closer to his opponent, a meter away from her and he would launch his right fist directly at her face. His speed was great as he would pass the distance between them in just a couple of seconds, literally using all of his physical abilities to the max.

OOC: No problem.

So he wasn't effected by her move instead actually he was motivated to make his first move of course after telling that her actions were meaningless. Well, of course they weren't but it didn't matter anymore. He closed the distance between the two and she didn't retreat back until a certain limit where she would force her own conditions. There is a reason why she was dressed a wide loose skirt that resembled somehow the aerugese Hakama. Which give her not only easiness of movement but it hid her limbs as well keeping her opponent always in the dark to her plans in the making. Once he was within her parameter of one meter and half, she would begin retreating back in an unnoticeable fashion though slower if compared to his pace still she was on the move ready to manipulate her steps if needed be.

So he went for a straight punch full force using the momentum of his own body which was not quite the right move against someone with a blade in their hand. So she firmly held her parasol pulling out the blade just up a bit to block the coming fist while continuously retreating backwards slowly then suddenly and quickly leaping in the same direction of her retreat once the hit connected. If lusso continued the attack he would get himself injured, maybe he should stop and reconsider how to make his approach.

Until now, Shizuka showed no hostility whatsoever choosing first to toy with her pray measuring up his abilities.

OOC: Somewhat shorter, I kinda rushed it.

Something that this man did not expect happened and this had a impact on him since he was forced to do things the way he rarely did them. This blond haired male, despite his devotion to boxing still had other skills which he wanted to learn and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so since here his boxing was not going to help him since he was faced with a foe who was using a weapon which had a bladed part that could slice and injure his hands. To a boxer like Russo, his fists were the most important weapon of them all and so he needed to keep them safe from injuries that could cause damage which could make them useless. Usually he would stop himself somehow the moment he noticed the blade coming out of its sheet but he honestly thought that this girl was not going to use her weapon and fight him with her martial arts instead, plus from the looks of it she was not going to use that weapon of hers to cut him and instead it looked more like she was focused on defense. Due to that he did not stop, his fist continued towards its mark and it was blocked by the young girl who then moved backwards, her expression never changing, as if she was just observing and not even trying to fight.

"So ye like to play, eh? Young girl I would advise you to take things seriously, I am not going easy on you." Those words the blond haired male would speak with a rather calm and relaxed attitude as if he was giving her a preaching of some sort even though it did seem like she had the upper hand in this fight. Luckily for him, he had a weapon saved just for cases like this, a weapon which he used only for cases like this and he was somewhat skilled with it. With his left hand he would take out the dagger located in his left pocket, holding it with a reverse grip, planning to use it as a way to defend himself against the sword which the girl had. After the dagger was out and ready to be used he returned his left hand back into the same position as his right hand, up to his chest area, just like in a boxing match. This time he decided to let her do the first move, slowly starting to take steps towards her new position which was approximately eight meters away from his current position. With his slow steps the blond haired male planned to cause a reaction from the girl and then use it to make a move of his own, due to his supreme footwork gained from boxing this was possible for him and he was used to winning fights with instincts alone. So, what was the girl going to do next?

So even with her blade drawn out which was by every meaning a blocking technique, the unsheathed blade according to her designs was supposed to meet the amestrian fist injuring the latter in the process. Yet, somehow without him retreating to avoid such a meeting of metal and flesh, he was able to divert his fist to meet the sheath instead instead of the blade itself. Was it luck? probably his fate determined his safety.

He gave away a piece of his sermons, preaching her not to underestimate him pulling out a dagger to clad one of his hands in edgy stainless steel assuming this strange stance, a stance used in game foreigners play called 'boxing' having this rules of trading blows through the means of fists. Did he think he was able to defeat her through his strange art aided by a deadly metal clad?

She didn't move from her place for a while imitating a technique her older sister liked to torture with people. Letting her opponent to over-think and over-analyze, while she strategically decide what to be done next. She showed him her drawing cut before, maybe he taught himself how to counter such a technique though it would be heard given his choice of weapon.

So, she decided to performing another lightening fast draw cut and observe what he would do. Slowly she traversed the arena nearing him in a way that his vision would only her side blocking it from the parasol and the off hand holding it while her main hand ready to make the draw.

Once, he became within her range, she would do it aiming for his mid-section. If it connected with the flesh, he would get himself a mortal wound that would require immediate medical attention. If he was able to block or the most unlikely option which was to avoid due to the strike's distance and wide range covered, she would keep her sheath - parasol - ready to block if a surprise would arise.

Nonetheless, once the blade passed through the shaft and became one with the sheath ending her attack of testing. she would leap backward again away from him gaining distance.

OOC: Sorry for the delay. ^^

As he approached the female, observing her and noticing how she was not intimidated at all, she stud there waiting for a moment to strike while letting her foe do all the worrying. By now she should have learned that psychological tricks and mind games were not effective on this man driven by pure battle instinct and blood lust, rarely thinking about what he was going to do even though at some times it did seem as if he was thinking about his next move. While he was approaching the female the blond haired male suddenly felt pain at the point where his fist touched the weapon of his foe, apparently he did not pass unscratched, a cut appeared over his fist. It wasn't deep, nor painful, yet it still caused for the male to form a grin over his face as he moved his fist closer to his mouth, stretching his tongue and licking the blood off his fist. While he did that he looked at the girl with his gentle blue eyes, letting her see the powerful thirst for blood which he felt, something that no ordinary human could withstand without making a reaction. But, he was a bit too late since at the moment when he did that the female charged at him and it seemed as is she was ready to finish this battle. This was exactly what Cromwell was waiting for, it was time to turn the tides in this fight.

Despite the fact that this young girl was trying to hide her approach and fool her opponent into making a wrong move so that she could finish him off, this blond haired male knew that an attack was coming so he was alerted. There was one thing that this girl did not know about her opponent and it was something that was not considered to be a tool for battles, but for this occasion Cromwell was going to reveal its battle use. This special skill was the ability to read the body language to reveal the emotions of others. How could it be used in a battle? Rather simple, everyone who learned how to read the body language had to pay attention to every single movement performed by their target, including the smallest of all details. Right away he noticed how she was hiding a part of her body and so he was able to conclude that the attack was coming from there, probably another attack with her sword which was now out of his sight. The dagger in his hand was right in his hand so he could use to block another sword attack without much thought, as a boxer his hands were trained to move fast in order to bypass the defenses of his foes in order to deliver a lightning fast attack that would usually knock out the foe since all boxers possessed strength and speed to do such a thing, they only needed one direct hit.

Once the female started to approach him, Cromwell stopped right away, preparing for her attack and positioning the dagger in his hand so that it could be used to block an attack. Once she came closer and revealed her intentions, Cromwell too revealed his little strategy to get rid of that annoying weapon. The speed of her movements was on a great level, but so was the speed of his fists, thus the two movements were performed at speeds of a equal level. While the girl had to take out her weapon and make a slash, all Cromwell had to do was move his hand a little bit to meet the blade and prevent it from going any further. But, the blond haired soldier was not going to do just that, his dagger, which was a hook dagger, it also had a other purpose which was obvious just from its name. On the middle-upper side of the blade its curves created a hole which formed a "u" in a way and that part was being targeted by the weapon of the female after he had moved his hands to intercept her attack. If her lightning fast attack continued, her blade would have entered this hole and Cromwell would perform another quick movement to trap her sword completely.

If that was completed successfully, she would be open for attacks and that was what this blond haired male wanted to. Either way, this time he was not going to let her slide her sword back into her sheet after the attack.

OOC: Lusso, please be careful when you describe your turn of attack and explain almost perfectly leaving no way for misunderstandings. You said in the previous post that you are going to stop the blade from being unsheathed, that an excellent move however how you described it was not right. Your hand should have gone for the hilt to stop the draw cut, not the blade since you can not stop the blade itself with bared hands or fists, it would simply cut you. I shall assume you went for the hilt.

IC:

The amestrian showed a deal of cunning as he put his tactic into the field of practice thus translating the strategy of his thoughts into the realms of reality. Indeed, he got it right. In order to stop an 'Iaidoka' from his or her plans of executing a draw cut, simply block the hilt thus keeping the blade within it's sheath and this could only done at almost point blank from the one who follows the ways of the sword. Indeed such a feet he showed needed a deal of agility and speed.

However she - the mischievous aerugese - once her disguised golden marble eyes saw his scheme of entrapment simply didn't continue her attack instead she leaped away from his range backwards. It was clear to her like the sun brought to them everyday to existence by Amaterasu herself that if she needs to defeat him and prove herself victorious, then she must go duel handed one blade in each. The plan was simple, deceive him, give him a quick glance of his false victory then in one swing destroy such false hope away thus defeating him twice. One for his lament of a lost victory and the other for unbelievable defeat.

And when she went to unsheathe her Beni Hime then doing the same to her well hidden Beni Zakura, her cellphone rang forcing her to make other leaps backwards for a safe distance to maintain. Answering the call, the amestrian would hear low humming on her part only to see her later ending the call.

"Sorry..leave...meet...later." she turned around and in mere seconds she disappeared from his scope of vision.


After Edit: Regarding the last post. I reread it again and actually you are correct. I do apologize for the mistake on my part. I didn't PM you because it was useless since you know I was exiting anyway due to the coming of mission so I explained my concerns here. My apologies again.

OOC: Hmm, I believe you misread my post, so I will just point towards my last paragraph where I clearly mention using my dagger to block your sword attack and trap your sword with my hook dagger. I did not go for your sheet nor did I use my bare hands, it clearly says that I used my dagger to do so. I'm not sure know how you didn't notice it, it wasn't actually vague and in fact it was perfectly clear. But anyways, it doesn't matter now, this was a good match, just in future cases please check to see if you got things right, I always reply to PMs. Quick exit post.


Err, okay?

Even though it wasn't his intention, Lusso had found himself spoiling the plans of his foe in a way much different that he initially planned or tried to do and thus even surprising himself. The maneuver which he seemingly performed was grabbing the hilt of his foe somehow, even though he initially did not plan to do so and thus he prevented the attack of his foe and stopped it before it even happened. The eyes of the blond haired male widened, he did not expect to do such a thing, nor could he remember even trying such a thing any yet there he was, doing something. Anyways, due to him doing this he did not have to use his dagger to block her attack, since there was no attack, the male was now free to use his other hand which held the dagger to attack the female. Now, he would not be the one who was defending, the prey had turned into a hunter and the hunter had became the pray that now had to think about dodging attacks instead of making them. Of course, at that moment the blond haired male did not think that she could just get away by bouncing away from him and this increasing the distance between themselves, in the end dodging his attack before he even made one.

Too bad Lusso, just when a chance appeared in front of you, you let it slip because you were too surprise with your own block of her attack. The blond haired male had to be more careful now, chances were that this female would have a counter next time he tried to do such a thing. "Sorry..leave...meet...later" were the words which came next, the thing which Lusso hated the most in a fight when his foes would leave the battlefield instead of staying to finish the match. But, it did seem as if the female was in a hurry to go somewhere so he couldn't do anything about it, he had to let her go this time and maybe she would return in order to finish what she had started. Tho, chances of that were slim, but he could only hope. Anyways, since she was now gone Lusso decided that he too should leave and get his wound fixed up so that once more he could return to this place and further hone his skills.

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