Dueling Fate

[X] The disciple with the sword is offering to teach combat skills. It is likely an introductory course, but you have no formal training, and any cultivator must learn the martial arts.

Perception Check 3d10(7)

9, 1, 4 – One Success

You can hear a blacksmith hammering steel nearby as the bellow of the marketplace echoes behind you. You can smell the scent of fresh pastries wafting from the main street, honey and cinnamon promising something sweet. You can see your fellow initiates lining up with you. Amongst them at the front walks a girl, back straight, flowing like water with each step, carrying a sword of her own, her gaze often dropping down to stare at the one on the senior disciple's hip.

All these things dangle on the edge of your senses. You trust your senses, honed after years in the mountains.

When those senses tell you that someone is watching you, you listen.

It starts when you join the line, soon after others follow foot as they make their way out of the inns and homes they've settled into for the night. It's smaller than what you'd expect. Only ten of your fellows join the man with the sword, a larger number head off to cycle and you can only assume that those who aren't in either have chosen some other adventure for the day. The senior beckons for you all to follow him after another few minutes and you comply, moving from the streets of the town away from the sect even and back towards the roads that lead to the port city.

Something still feels off.

You roll a shoulder, working out the kinks that stem from yesterday's exploring and sleeping on a hard bed.

As you do you sneak a glance behind you.

Jade eyes lock with yours for an instant before you turn back around.

You don't know who they are.

The senior branches left, and soon enough you walk upon a small ring enclosed by a wooden fence. A quick step inside and you find a mix of dirt and sand, your footsteps crunching underneath you.

The senior comes to a halt in the middle and looks back at the rest of you. He smiles kindly. "Welcome, aspirants. I am Jin Jaiyi, and I have volunteered to give you some instruction in the martial arts."

"Fighting is one of the greatest forms of self-expression between artists," he tells you. "It is one of the truest ways to gain the measure of your fellow cultivator."

"If you've never fought before I'd suggest you look for a fellow novice. Pair up and exchange pointers."

Brief and to the point. You look around as some of the group who had come together immediately split off between each other. You go to look for a fellow novice. You have had little training in your life. Your father once taught you how to throw a punch, and you'd wrestled with some of your peers in the village before you'd come here. Truth be told you'd probably fought wild animals more than your fellow man. Wolves which had taken you by surprise. Animals desperately fighting their way out of a trap when you went to deal the finishing blow.

You're shaken out of your brief thoughts on the matter to find that your partner has been decided for you.

Jade eyes stand a few feet in front of you, already in a stance you have never seen before. Small is your first thought. You doubt she'd even make it up to your shoulder if you were closer together. But she is wiry, rippled forearms and defined biceps speak of her strength. Dark brown hair is tied into a braid which sits upon one of her shoulders. She stands before you relaxed, a gleam in her eyes belaying a confidence in her skills that you doubt you can match.

Is this what it feels to be the prey?

Your stomach is twisting in knots. Your legs like lead.

For some reason, she set her sights on you from the moment you stepped into this line.

Squaring yourself you shuffle off your furs until you're left in just your pants and tunic. You lay them gently on the ground making sure to keep them out of the way of your fellows. You take off your pendant and immediately feel the heat of the marshlands, cloying and oppressive. You shuffle one foot forward until you find something which resembles comfort, low and to the earth, before you put your hands up.

And you meet her unspoken challenge with a nod.

Combat Tutorial

Combat is decided by attack and defence rolls. If you have more successes than the opponent does defending, then you deal damage according to the amount of success. If you have the same amount of successes or the defending party succeeds more then no damage is dealt. Fighting styles bring boosts to your unarmed/armed combat dice and traits which will allow you to do such things as add bonus dice to your attack and defence or do damage on your defensive turns, such things depend on the style you learn over time.

Years of hunting have always told you to wait for your prey to make a move, to read their movements and catch them when they're least suspecting. Better to wait for a deer to come into range of your bow than to aim across the entire forest and hope to get lucky. As you stand in front of her though she remains unmoving. She will not deal the first blow, at least not today.

And if she won't move, then the only thing you can do is meet her yourself.

You shoot towards her with speed belying your height. A surprised look is the only thing you notice as you go to bury a fist in her stomach. Her hand shoots out, trying to bat away your punch but you power through it. A gasp of breath escapes her lungs and a pained grunt echoes through the ring as your fist drives into her body. She grimaces through the pain and takes hold of your arm, stepping inside. You feel her leg brush against yours and then she yanks down on your arm.

Your back hits the ground with a thud, loose granules of sand spray up into the air and you close your eyes as they dust over your face. The sound of murmurs and cheers echo around you and you open your eyes, a sea of azure blue overhead. Where are you? It's a question immediately answered by her grip. A hand on your arm, her knee now in your back, painfully pushing on your spine, trying to keep you pinned down. You feel her grip change, rolling up your shoulder, fingers digging into a point beside your neck before she squeezes, and you groan as a shooting pain lances through your upper body.

You try to struggle upwards, lifting yourself off the dirt only for her to kick your foot out from underneath you and twist. You land on your chest and feel her straddle you from behind, the weight of her bearing down on your back as two arms wrap around your neck seeking purchase before they cinch in, pull and you can't breathe.

In the absence of oxygen, your body has only one desperate urge in mind.

Instinct takes over.

Rolling and bucking, you flail around your body desperately seeking air. She rolls with you, wrapped around your torso like a vice and she still won't let go. Your vision begins to swim, you drive your elbow down, catching her in the ribs. She hisses in pain and her grip slackens for a moment and you draw in a desperate gasp of breath. Bolting upright you try to get as much space away from her, but she grabs your leg and pulls you back.

And then she's all over you, swarming you from above. You get to your knees, but you can't move. Your arms scrabble over her body, trying to find purchase. Her hair, an arm, anything you can use to wrench her off you, but she moves from one spot to the next like lightning. On your right, on your left, using her weight however small it is to keep you down. She's not hitting you, nor has she locked anything in. It's a struggle between both of you, technique meeting desperation. A battle between you getting back to your feet and her keeping you down.

It feels like eternity, with the two of you tangling in a desperate heaving sprawl of limbs before you feel your feet plant firmly on the ground. Finally, an opportunity to stand.

You can't.

Has it always been this hot?

Have you always been this out of breath?

It's like you've run for hours for only a few minutes of work. The heat and her constant presence draining you with every movement. You try to-

You don't know what you're trying to do.

A few seconds later she releases you. You roll over and collapse to the ground again for who knows how many times in the last few minutes. You can only stare at the sky as you gasp for breath.


You feel something hit your chest and look down to see your pendant. You ease it on and immediately feel the heat of the world disappear, the cold almost searing your blazing skin through the shirt. You glance in her direction to find her having taken a seat beside you, a light sheen of sweat on her brow, still catching her breath though she's nowhere near as exhausted as you.

"Interesting trinket."

You nod, idly cradling it in your left hand. "Thanks, it was from my father."

"Never fought before, have you?"

"Never." You say as you roll over to see a fair few of the group had stopped their own activities to watch the two of you.

Now that it's come to an end they grudgingly return to their own contests.

You grimace as you sit up, glancing in her direction to find her sitting cross legged, dabbing at a graze on her arm and patting down the dirt on her robes.

You have one question.

"Why?"

She stares back at you and shrugs. "Find the biggest person in the room and beat them. That's what father said, and you were the biggest person here. Nothing personal."

You nod, digesting her words. The two of you spend a few more minutes in silence as the rest of the group returns to their sparring or those who have already finished find somewhere to sit. It's a comfortable silence, one born of exhaustion, at least on your end. You fall back onto the ground, as good a cushion as you're likely to find right now, and gaze at the clouds. You realise that you don't know anything about her other than the fact she's just spent the last few minutes mauling you.

What's her name?

"Lind." You say in the end.

"Vijaya." She tells you before she rises to her feet.

"If you ever decide to take up fighting, I'm always available for a spar."

And with that you watch her walk over towards the Senior, the two of them entering a hushed discussion. Then she turns and takes her leave. You watch her go, eyes never straying.

She beat you into the ground.

And all you really feel are butterflies as you watch her walk away.

Initiate Met: Vijaya Paranthapa – Relationship: 0

Two of your fellows glance over at your prone state, and her retreating figure. They then bow to the senior before leaving the ring and chasing after her.

Jin Jiayi watches them go with a bemused expression before he makes his way over to you, and you make the effort to sit up at the very minimum. He hands you a canteen of water which you greedily sip from.

"No shame in defeat, for a novice such as yourself." He says as he stands over you with his hands on his hips, one gently tapping the sword at his hilt. "Especially against a member of the Paranthapa."

Those words mean nothing to you, but you nod slowly, lowering the canteen.

"Yes, Senior." You add at the end, remembering your mother's advice to treat every member of the sect with respect, lest you face the consequences.

"Once you regain your bearings, we can begin to discuss a style and form for you if you so wish. I'll be running classes here for the duration of the month, until you prove yourself to the sect or return home."

After you finish the canteen, you rise to your feet. In total there are only five of you left, two others having left before Vijaya and those who followed her having gone back to the town.

If you are to continue fighting you should choose a style. How do you want to fight?

[] Reckless – Hit hard, forgo defence to deal additional damage, attacks are stronger, but you are likely to take damage in turn.

[] Defensive – You are bigger than most, and you feel confident in your ability to take punishment, learn to counter your opponent and make them regret leaving any openings.

[] First Strike – The start of the fight is the most important, start off strong with a heavy hit and then make sure your opponent never recovers.

[] Agile – The art of winning, is sometimes not getting hit at all. A style which could also work well with those hunting knives you currently have sitting on top of your furs.

[] Fighting is not for you – You had a taste and you found yourself… lacking. You will choose to focus on other pursuits. (Locks you out of combat training for the immediate future, more opportunities to engage in other actions).