A stretch of beach, Tuesday mid-morning

[blondecanary]

Dinah and Tahiri had run into each other on the beach, and since the gym here was definitely not the place to spar-- they'd scare a lot of the spinning people-- they'd headed away from the main beach, just in sight of the towers, in order to get a good work-out in.

"Can't be lazy every minute here. Have you seen the dolphins yet?"

[for a still-

Comments

[weetuskenraider]

"Not yet." Tahiri closed her eyes for a moment, extending her senses in the Force; no, it was quiet enough out here, and a quick mental suggestion ought to discourage the less determined from wandering across the area they'd picked. "I was at the marine habitat with Jonas earlier, looking at the fish. They were . . ."

She shook her head, still a little rocked by the double sense of awe. "It was beautiful. I want to do that, too, before we go."

Digging her toes experimentally into the sand, to get a good sense of her footing, Tahiri looked up and nodded. "Just to be on the safe side, I think we'd better keep powers out of this one. I really don't want to have to mind-trick anyone."

[blondecanary]

Dinah nodded. "Lots easier than explaining and damage control, to not have anything to explain, yeah. I'm good with that." She grinned. "I'll have to hit the marine habitat too, that sounds awesome. Fight in the water, or on the sand?"

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri considered for a moment, then smiled slowly. "Edge of the water?" she suggested, the symbolism of that locale still not lost on her. "Can't go out too far, yet. I'm still not used to it."

[blondecanary]

"Perfect," Dinah said, grinning, and kicking off her flip-flops to skip through the sand down to the edge of the surf, feeling the water foam around her ankles. "You seem-- I dunno." She grinned. "Happy?" Was that it?

[weetuskenraider]

The one good thing about these weird, weird shorts was that Tahiri didn't have to stop to roll up her trouser legs, so she trailed along after Dinah, digging her toes into the wet sand.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I am." It probably wasn't hard to notice how much less strained her smile was these days. "You're not complaining, are you?"

[blondecanary]

"God, no. A more centered Tahiri is mysterious but welcome," Dinah teased, centering herself in the soft wet sand. "And that means I won't hold back, either." Ha!

[weetuskenraider]

"Good. You'd better not." That smile was more confident now, too; Tahiri had been looking for a test of her adjusted combat mindset. "So, what are you waiting for?"

Sorry, Jaina. That was your line.

[blondecanary]

Dinah snorted to cover a chortle, then couldn't resist, and kicked sand up into the air, to cover the first fast punch at the other girl, smile widening into a grin.

[weetuskenraider]

Where Tahiri might have just barely dodged before, she whipped out of the way of the blow entirely, following through with a ridiculously quick backfist shot of her own. The movement carried her to mid-calf depth in the water, and it took her a moment to adjust her balance.

[blondecanary]

The speed caught Dinah by surprise, and the fist caught her on the arm. "Ow!" She wasn't letting the change in balance go by her, though, and she kicked out toward Tahiri's knee, grin widening. "Practicing? Or did you go home and get more time to get better again?"

[weetuskenraider]

A real Force-assisted flip would be far too attention-getting; Tahiri brought an arm down instead, less to block the kick than to try and knock Dinah's leg away.

"I'm practicing now," she answered, grinning broadly. She'd always felt a little out of her element in a fight before, never all that comfortable with it. Now, though? It was almost like breathing. That was a mental adjustment she still had to make, but it was . . . not unwelcome.

[blondecanary]

Tahiri succeeded, which inspired Dinah to speed up, the training she'd had with Azula helping her twist and spin into another kick from the other side, smirking. "Then let's step it up!" Since Tahiri seemed-- good, great, no hesitation. "Faster!"

[weetuskenraider]

"What, you call this fast?" Tahiri called, laughing. And dropped into a low crouch, almost horizontal with her hands planted in the sand, both legs whipping around in a scissoring motion. The kick still clipped her in the head, which put a momentary hitch in her movement but didn't stop her. "I'm barely getting warmed up."

[blondecanary]

"Good!" Dinah tried to dart out of the way of the scissoring legs, and laughed as she got hit again, ankle stinging. Then she stomped down, trying to catch one of Tahiri's feet on the axis, and warned, "I can take this to the surf, Tahiri!"

[weetuskenraider]

The stomp hit, drawing a bark of surprise more than pain from Tahiri, who vaulted back up to her feet and closed in with not-quite-Jedi speed, aiming an uppercut at Dinah's chin.

"Not here, you won't," she yelled back.

[blondecanary]

"Whoa!" Dinah had her arms up to block as fast as she could, startled enough not to have a follow-up move, and took the blow along the side of her jaw and one arm. "Tiny Jedi Ninja of Fury!"