"Mother Superior." But his eyes were on the other two women - the ones he had not yet met. He had never met an acolyte before, but they were undoubtedly Bene Gesserit. So young compared to most of the ones he had known. Sheeana too, had been surprising that way.
Katara listened to what wasn't said, and understood that what she and Tess were going to do was show Duncan what they learned, and he would do the same. Of course, considering that he had actually been schooled in a Bene Gesserit environment (whatever that meant) he had the upper hand. She looked over at Tess, and gave her a playful grin that said looks like we're being fed to the dogs on this one. Not that she minded. A fight was a fight.
"Let's show him what we've been taught Tess," Katara said, and got into stance. She took a breath, and came at Duncan with a forward flip, her arms extended to come at him with forward force at her fingertips.
Tess isn't quite as quick to rush to the attack-but she does move forward, flanking Katara. Her steps are smoother and more graceful than she looks like she should be able to manage. Her expression stays pleasant and peaceful despite the situation-but her stance is wary, tilted more towards active defense than offense.
Duncan was well aware of the deadly accuracy and skills the women of the Bene Gesserit were trained in as a matter of course. Not as sure of the outcome of this fight as Katara, he hoped more find out a bit more about those other abilities to which Sheeana had alluded. A spar might explain "waterbender" and "grasshopper" better than words.
At least this early on, he chose to keep to an older pattern; standard series of blocks and strikes at a maintainable speed. His movements were quick enough to be challenging, but not so quick that they could not be followed, or interfere with his own observations. A good pace to draw out the match. He admired Tess's grace and Katara's playful spirit, and relaxed into the familiar non-rhythms of training-play. It was a lot more fun with other people.
Katara could tell something off the bat, despite Duncan's attempts to hide it: he wasn't just sparring with them. He was studying their movements too, and she understood now that this might be an opportunity to show Duncan HOW a bender accomplished their craft. She glanced over at Tess and nodded. They had become fairly good at nonverbal communication: it wasn't affordable to use words all that much when you were fighting.
The speed increased slowly, until Katara was certain that she could still maintain her change in martial arts. When she looked as if she were going to lunge forward she back-flipped instead, her pouch open and at the ready. The water became a stream that became a whip, and she lashed at Duncan, brandishing the water fueled weapon as she would a mace: not nearly as dangerous, but still quite able to sting.
Tess, she knew, would have the ability to come at him with her own sort of attack now as she, too, evaluated how Duncan would make use of his fighting knowledge.
And-now. Katara serves as enough of a distraction, and Tess rocket forward from the other direction. The movement is strange-guided by Bene Gesserit teaching, but the way her feet slam against the ground to propel her forward is not the clever lightness of prana-bindu but, rather, the disproportionate raw force of something else hidden under her soft appearance. Intuitively-there, she comes in a hair's width under the lash of the water-whip, striking forward with one hand, with her midfinger knuckles forward.
Duncan wasn't so lax as to laugh out loud in the middle of the fight, but his happiness, a physical, motion-bound pleasure, still sang in the twist of his torso and the impossible arch of his spine as he dodged both strange new attacks at startling speed. They were playing along! And still so fast, even after their session with Sheeana.
Their styles and techniques were often unlike many of the things he'd tried before, and that was why this was so valuable, so useful. A block became a jab and a kick became a throw, and he took his damage and dealt it. Saved the marveling for after, and tried still to keep an eye on Sheeana and Arha.
He improvised as he went along - had to - to adapt to Katara's unusual range and Tess's sharp instinct. This wasn't a teaching fight, not exactly, but he could (try to) pace it as one and ... maybe show off just a little bit.
Katara blinked. He was...fast, really fast. She had guessed as much anyway, but while she knew that would be to his advantage, she had no reason to play this any less than she usually would. This was a test of all three of their abilities, and if that meant that she had to step it up a notch, so be it. Another glance at Tess let her partner know that they were going to have to play this a little closer to the teeth
( ... )
Tess takes a hit or two or three, trying to flow with the movements but not quite keeping up, glad that this isn't a real fight. But it's strange-at each impact her flesh stiffens, (un)naturally spreading the impact like some artificial armor. It explains her explosive motions. Were she to land with one of those knuckle-edge hits, she would hit like a rock-but it adds a certain jerkiness, wielding her body like a geometric figure instead of a smooth pattern, needing to focus on bursts of speed to try and make up for it.
The mist enfolds them... she closes her eyes and sucks in her breath. Steps, staccato against the ground, and then she discards her shoes. Step, step, step, an incoherent pattern-and then her stance changes and the exaggerated footsteps do too. Breath still, body still-for a long moment, but for her heartbeat, she could as nearly have vanished.
And then she slams forward again, all at once, breaking through the mist just under the spray of Katara's ice projectiles...
"I didn't mean to interrupt."
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( ... )
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"Let's show him what we've been taught Tess," Katara said, and got into stance. She took a breath, and came at Duncan with a forward flip, her arms extended to come at him with forward force at her fingertips.
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At least this early on, he chose to keep to an older pattern; standard series of blocks and strikes at a maintainable speed. His movements were quick enough to be challenging, but not so quick that they could not be followed, or interfere with his own observations. A good pace to draw out the match. He admired Tess's grace and Katara's playful spirit, and relaxed into the familiar non-rhythms of training-play. It was a lot more fun with other people.
Reply
The speed increased slowly, until Katara was certain that she could still maintain her change in martial arts. When she looked as if she were going to lunge forward she back-flipped instead, her pouch open and at the ready. The water became a stream that became a whip, and she lashed at Duncan, brandishing the water fueled weapon as she would a mace: not nearly as dangerous, but still quite able to sting.
Tess, she knew, would have the ability to come at him with her own sort of attack now as she, too, evaluated how Duncan would make use of his fighting knowledge.
Reply
Reply
Their styles and techniques were often unlike many of the things he'd tried before, and that was why this was so valuable, so useful. A block became a jab and a kick became a throw, and he took his damage and dealt it. Saved the marveling for after, and tried still to keep an eye on Sheeana and Arha.
He improvised as he went along - had to - to adapt to Katara's unusual range and Tess's sharp instinct. This wasn't a teaching fight, not exactly, but he could (try to) pace it as one and ... maybe show off just a little bit.
Reply
Reply
The mist enfolds them... she closes her eyes and sucks in her breath. Steps, staccato against the ground, and then she discards her shoes. Step, step, step, an incoherent pattern-and then her stance changes and the exaggerated footsteps do too. Breath still, body still-for a long moment, but for her heartbeat, she could as nearly have vanished.
And then she slams forward again, all at once, breaking through the mist just under the spray of Katara's ice projectiles...
Reply
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