(D1, EA) Not Quite a Spear, Not Exactly Dancing

[Kuni Yasu]

Expecting, but it's a public space.

After cleaning, her traveling clothes are suitable for public wear once more and make reasonable practice garb seeing as there's no reason to stop training while on the road. Plain, navy blue hakama and simple kimono of deep red with very little extra fabric to the sleeves worked well for most activities.

And while she has no intention of sparring with her actual weapons, she wears her wakizashi, and thumps along the paths with her naginata. The saya and shaft are of dark wood, engraved with protective symbols; a cord twines around the join between them that would complicate unsheathing the blade. Practicing alone with either will be fine, if there's time, so long as things aren't *too* crowded.

But she's actually expecting to meet Tanabe for the practice they'd spoken of the night before.

[Susaki Tanabe]

Indeed the giant of a man walked through the town with a pleasant but small smile on his lips, he entered the dojo and took meticulous care to follow the proper ceremonies bowing to the dojo. He wore simple clothing black hakama with a brown kimono on top of it. The clothing did little to disguise his bulk and the kimono wasn't perhaps entirely well fitted but only just.

After the proper ceremonies were complete his daisho was stored on the stand and he turned to see Yasu there already. He approached slowly with his small smile growing just a little as he bowed to her "Good day Kuni-san, I hope its going well for you so far." the big man said as he straightened himself he began to stretch his arms "So I see you brought your big pole, its actually a pretty impressive weapon."

[Kuni Yasu]

In the process of storing her own weapons, she turns with a crimson smile on stark white paint--stark white save for pale pink across nose and cheeks, a blue line from lip to chin, and the slightly blurred and half-lidded eye on her forehead.. The paint shows signs of some touch-ups since morning, but nothing's too smeary. "It's going well. Maybe better now. Maybe worse soon, depending on just how hard we hit each other." She pats the haft of the polearm, still smiling. "She's been with me a while, and was my mom's before she passed it to me as the eldest. Need to get it to the smiths to refresh the jade inlay, but didn't have time before this came up."

She looks him up and down. "You are your own impressive weapon though, yes? I'd thought we might spar unarmed first, thinking that was less likely to injure anything before smacking one another with sticks. I'm rethinking that assessment! You're...hmm...bigger outside of the water."

[Susaki Tanabe]

He looked at the weapon giving it a second appraisal and nodding approvingly "Well it's an amazing weapon for sure." He said looking back to her face studying it for a while "the eye is a little weird but otherwise still cute." He said with an honest assessment though rather than his usual loud boisterousness it was said quieter to not carry beyond them should others be in the dojo.

Finishing up his stretch He laughed at her second comment "Oh but I thought your Hida cousins were all as big as me!" He said laughing "Well if it makes you feel better my offer to go easy on you still stands Yasu-san." He grinned playfully at her.

[Kuni Yasu]

She nods once. "The eye is a sign of my sensei's lineage. All of her apprentices will bear the same, which is a bit different from hers. We can trace training lines through such things."

Grinning up at him as she moves to begin her own stretches, she says,"Not *all* as big as you, but you are still only one man, and they were half a dozen and three women besides," she laughs cheerfully, bending to reach for the floor. "Besides, we're assessing possible partners here, even in such practical things as this, yes? I want to see what you can do, Susaki-san." There's some playfulness to her tone, but her eyes, as she unfolds and meets his gaze, hold a hint of challenge.

"Hmm..so unarmed first? I think I might have an easier time wanting to smack you with a long stick *after* you've tossed me on my ass a few times."

[Susaki Tanabe]

"Hmmm interesting. That's pretty cool we don't have anything like that in our clan." He said with a slight curve to his lips just a generally happy expression.

The edge of competitiveness creeps into his eyes as she issues her challenge "Oh so I'm being graded here is what you're saying? Well in that case I'll have to not hold anything back." He said finishing up his stretching and hopping a few times all loosened up. He pulled the tie holding his kimono closed and shrugged it off catching it and throwing it to a side of the gym He grinned "don't worry your ass is too nice for me to risk hurting it." He said playfully as he settled into a stance "ready when you are."

[Kuni Yasu]

"Aren't we all being graded? Can't make a match just out of..." she offers a small smile, "attraction and dreams." She's more careful loosening her kimono and freeing it, her tattoo showing in part above the simple wrap covering her chest. She pulls of her socks through the simple expedient of stepping on the toe of each one and pulling her foot free so she could better grip the tatami. There's interest and focus, but little matching competitiveness in her expression as she prepares for the contest.

She settles into a guarded stance that honestly looks more like adapting a stance from weapons training into one that simply doesn't have a weapon in hand.

___________
Initiative: 4 (Focus 3)

Sparring Initiative. TN 1 Tactics check. Earth Stance | TN: 1 | Success: 1 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 1

[Susaki Tanabe]

Tanabe smiled as she prepared looking at the tattoo once more but as she got into her stance he circled her a bit, for his size he was clearly light on his feet moving on the balls of his feet. His expression changed to one of focus his usual smile dropping and his eyes analyzing her in a completely different way than he had in the baths.

Seeing her more guarded stance he shifts quickly moving fast like the water he is behind her a large, powerful arm comes around her waist as he throws her sending the Kuni flying. He settles back holding his hands in a guarding action keeping himself light and ready for her return attack.

-------------------------------------------------------------
initiative 5 (focus 3)

D1 spar initiative tactics water tn 1 | TN: 1 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 1


-------------
Turn 1

Stance: Water
Move before action to RNG 0
Strike Action

D1 spar strike action melee(unarmed) water tn 2 | TN: 2 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1


success physical damage 2 (1+1 bonus success)
spending 2 opps for fierce Badger style:

When you make a martial arts[unarmed] check against a target at rng 0 you may spend opps in the following way - if the target's vigilance and silhouette both are equal to or less than the number of opps spent this way, the target is thrown 2 range bands and suffers 3 fatigue

Water action: Wait

[Kuni Yasu]

Hida he's fast! is all she has time to think before she finds herself airborne. That's happened before, at least, so there's no panic. But she hits the mat at an unpleasant angle and rolls as her ankle twinges. Her training lets her roll to her feet not far from the weapon rack, testing the ankle and deciding it would hold, for now.

"See, landing on my ass would've spared the ankle," she calls over to him, shifting her balance to the good foot and into a stance that would let her adapt around the strained muscles there.

"Mind slowing the next one down, so I can see what you're doing?" she asks, as she approaches the large Otter once more. She tries to find a more defensive posture, but is not familiar enough with his style...or possibly not entirely unwilling to let him get his hands on her again. Her eyes remain bright with interest in the proceeding as she carefully shifts some of the ache out of her ankle waiting for his next move.

________
Fatigue: 5/10
Strife: 1/10
Initiative: 4

At Range 2 after toss

Turn 1
Shift to Water stance

Action to Maneuver 1 range band closer to range 1 (deliberate)
Action to Guard: which fails
Guard action. TN 1 Tactics check. Water stance | TN: 1 | Success: 0 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1


Opportunity to remove 1 Fatigue (now 4/10)
Opportunity to remove 2 Strife (now 0/10)

[Susaki Tanabe]

The edges of his lips curved up though the intense focus was still in his eyes, though he seemed to pause slightly for a minute but after a second he nodded slightly seeing her continue in with the banter. He stayed in his stance and walked forward his eyes locked on her "Apologies Yasu-san sometimes I don't know my own strength. Though I'm glad to hear your ass is unscathed." he said jokingly

as he got in range of her he moved forward suddenly though this was different he wasn't shifting like water anymore but resolute like earth, his movements fast but sure, unstoppable, like a landslide. One arm slips behind her back as the other dips between her legs and grips her inner thigh pulling up and pushing her back with his body weight knocking her balance and causing them both to fall to the tatami with Tanabe on top pinning Yasu. From above her he smirked again his breathing only slightly labored "Slow enough for you?"

-----------------------
D1 spar martial arts [unarmed] earth tn 2 | TN: 2 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 2


2 damage (1+ 1 for bonus success)
spend one opportunity to inflict immobilized on Yasu

Fatigue: 0/10
Strife: 4/12
Initiative: 5