Practice 1 (Lorielle Only)

It was a fairly sunny day as the foliage masked the basking sun from hitting the grass. Jin had been sitting there waiting with the spear. The wooden shaft cradled against his shoulder as he had been thinking about the events of today. The non-existent point of the practice spear chafed against the wooden bark that it came into contact as he sat. It was almost about time for that girl to be coming over...

Lorielle would have some sweat pants, and wore a T-shirt despite the rather sunny day. The Mark she gained from her Persona was on her chest and reached to her shoulders, so if they were exposed, then ends of them would show. Then again, it is not like it meant anything, it to others, may just be some sort of tattoo. She brought the practice polearm from kendo that the club leader just let her take since she was the only one to use them. She did have her soulbound weapon or a real metal one she had hung up in her room, but obviously, neither would do. She would approach a nearby tree and notice her new teacher, Zong Wu. She also brought some food for the both of them, in a bag, and set them down in the grass, and gave a bow to him. “Hello Zong Wu-Sensei,” she said. “I brought things if we got hungry.”

He could feel someone approaching him. A solitary person with a slow gait walking towards him as the grass crunched under her feet. Turning his head to the side he saw Lorielle has finally arrived just in time with a meal on top of it. Good. It's a really nice change from the microwavable meals from the convenience stores. She was seriously someone who looked after others. And she had the practice weapon to boot to.

"Thanks," he grinned gratefully towards her, "I was starting to get tired of the microwave, if you know what I mean."

The teacher used the butt end of the hard wood shaft of his practice tool to push himself up like a cane. He allowed his head to bob to the side and left to stretch his neck as he held out his arms to stretch what sedentary muscles there were that had been storing up since today's day of teaching.

With a finger pointing at the spot he was waiting at, Jin spoke to her,"Put them by the tree there. Or some place else where we can get to it. We'll get it later when we're done. Let's start."

While she was to set aside their after-practice meals, the spear-wielder merely walked towards the clearing where there would be enough space for each combatant to wield their weapons. With Lorielle finally coming towards him, Jin held out the spear tip at her. Waiting for her to cross it with the bamboo blade of her weapon.

"Go easy on this old man. I haven't done this in a long time."

Whether there would be any affirmative or not, he nodded for her to start. And frankly, he probably might lose this one with sleep, smoking, and aging to blame.

Weakness:

Lorielle would laugh as she sat down. “So now I have to cook for you as well. Culture here is rather different than where I am from,” she said, her English accent showing right through if Zong Wu knew what they sounded like. It was a purposeful thing to make a point. Sometimes she forgot she even came from there. Japanese culture is a lot more fascinating anyway. As he stood up, Lori stepped back lightly and grabbed her polearm, and moving the food by the tree. He was still her sensei, so she had to be obedient to him. This fighting may help her in battle with her Persona. She would walk to him and cross her weapon with his. “Good luck Sensei. I doubt I will fair well with you,” she said with a grin. With a flash though, her face would change to passive unrelenting face as she would simply flick her polearm to his stomach and simply stab forward. It was a quick one, but for a polearm it could be easily spotted. Once more, Lorielle barely put strength behind it, expecting him to dodge anyway. Whether it hit or not, Lorielle would step back and bring her polearm at a fourty-five degree angle up to him, keeping her unchanging face.

Jin smiled sheepishly at her, but he never bothered to correct her since he was still unable to learn much of their distinct way of life and mannerisms completely. To prevent looking bad in a way, he kept silent on the matter.

So as they were about to start, Lorielle wished him luck and have expected she would be somewhat outclassed. Little than did she know, it might not be as she may have expected. Jin easily noticed the tiniest bit of movement at the initiation of her attack.

With her feet stepping forward and her legs bent into a snappy lunge, the teacher did not have to see that she was beginning to attack. Her form wasn't bad. Nor was it good. To make it easier for himself, Jin simply flicked the shaft to parry the attack while merely stepping to the side at the same time.  

She wasn't trying her best. And it was clear. While at the same time she was bringing up her polearm into a stance, the wooden shaft had already curled over the bamboo to merely "push" it to the side before Lorielle could quickly make a reaction. For the girl, it would look like he's just made simple quick and timely contact. However, an enormous amount of force would jerk the pole arm's point away from Jin.

Allowing the wood to slide through his left palm, Jin thrust the dull end of his weapon right into her right shoulder for a painful jab in one movement from the earlier deflection. Despite the force she felt from his deflecting, he held back for obvious reasons.

Spoiler:

Lorielle would be easily parried by his attack as expected. On the other hand, the man was quite formidable, as he already found himself next to Lorielle’s right side and making a strike for her right shoulder. Clever move. On the other hand, Lorielle could notice the man was not too fast, or at least, not as fast as she was agile. He also was not using his full strength. He was making a jab forward to her right shoulder. If deflecting it was a waste of time, why not just avoid it altogether? That in mind, she would simply pull her upper body back, and drop her legs so she could straighten her body up and at the same time, be crouched down under the attack. She would only be able to attack his left side when his right was striking her. She would give a firm strike onto his leg, and hopefully that would hit unless he suddenly grew supernatural speed. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she wanted him to back the hell up. ‘I am vulnerable where I am. But I cannot jump back until he does,’ she thought. She might well have been able to, but she was worried about the fight. Zong Wu clearly was not to be messed with.

He noticed she immediately made evasive measures. To move back quickly and then crouch down as if doing the completely reverse of a frog jump. It seems she has quite the reflexes despite the timing he used. Through the subtle movements of her muscles that would soon become increasingly apparent, Jin could already tell her next move. Perhaps to her surprise, he was following her at the same time she jump-crouched down.  Sliding the shaft down his hands, he allowed the butt end to push way her strike to his left leg diagonally aside right before he swerved the top part of the shaft to make a slicing movement to her bare neck in a slash to the left in one complete movement like before.

She had no way around this really. All she could do is take the attack and fall to her side after feeling the sudden jolt hit her neck. Whether he used strength or not, he did attack a vital part of the human body. She would grab her neck with her free hand, laughing a bit as well as taking deep breaths. “Got me there,” she said. She knew this fight was not going to last too long. If given enough time, Lorielle would push herself up to sitting position, still halfway near the ground. Her naginata would be gripped in her right hand, still ready to go if needed. Though she would be trying to push herself up. She really could not do much in the situation. Maybe if she had a way to strike at his legs again. ‘Or…..’ she thought. Slowly putting her hand from her neck down, she would make a quick low kick trying to knock him down. It was practically a cheap shot sure, but she had to be prepared in case Zzong Wu decided to get her while she was down.

He hit her neck, but apparently she fell down to nullify the damage. It made him worry a bit. What if it left a mark? The teacher would have to worry about a lawsuit on top of all this. And he wasn't very keen at that. Though perhaps this girl's amicable personality might just see it as simply that can't be helped from their practice... hopefully. With one hand, the girl was able to push back in a manner that looked like she was sitting. He allowed her to get up. After all, this is practice. Normally there's no way she could try to attack effectively like this. However, his own honed senses could feel she was already making another move. A kick. Surprising that she wouldn't just simply rely on her weapon. But, it wouldn't change that they were still continuing their little spar. However, a kick from that position just wasn't likely to do much unless aimed correctly. But even then, that's very unlikely as it was clear that she hadn't taken any real martial arts consisting of kicks.

This time, Jin allowed it to land, hitting the side of his knee. Since he was already expecting it coming, the Chinese had put more of his weight to that side, with his knees obviously bending, to close off any way of kicking him down off his feet. It stung quite a bit that it caused his calm expression to quiver once. But before allowing her to retract the leg, he caught her shin with his iron-like fingers as it coiled around it to just in time to prevent it from withdrawing. Apparently he had knelt down just enough to initiate the capture. With a small grin suggesting that he wasn't done yet, the Chinese would jump up back to his feet while still gripping Lori's leg before allowing her to make another maneuver. Of course he would also give a little twist to transmit a signal of pain to Lorielle's brain to cause her to recoil a bit to make dragging her easier. The twist was made in a way that it would slightly create a pressure in her knee joint. By doing all of this, she probably would have her back hit the grass while at the same time Jin held the dull wooden spear point at her to prevent her from trying to make another move.

"That hurt, you know."

Strength:

Weakness:

Feeling the obvious hand on her leg, she really had nothing else to do but to take the hit, and end up straight on the ground, with a dull pain in her back. Looking at the spear, and with a sweaty face, back to Zong Wu. “Had I known you were gonna do that, I would have pulled back,” she said taking a deep breath after losing it from the fall. And she easily could have, as she was agile enough. Actually, she could have pulled back and maybe attacked from there. But Zong Wu suddenly decided to drop the pain on her and bring her to the ground. “But you got me. I imagine this would be the game for the opponent?” she asked. She was very willing to learn, and assumed that for the moment, this was just practical teaching to see what Lorielle knew; which wasn’t much. This was only practice after all, and even for practice, Zong Wu seemed to be going very hard. She wondered what kind of background he had.

The polearm was still near her, but to be fair, even if she grabbed it, what could she do while her leg still had a grip on her? Polearms had a rather big drawback, in that they were not very quick weapons, much less with one hand. So wielding it like a sword and swinging at him would be impossible, and even if it would work, it may hurt if her small low kick did that much. “Sorry bout the kick by the way,” she said, still on the ground. She would wait until he intended to let go. Maybe the fight would be over at this point.

"To be fair," Jin admitted honestly, "I didn't think you'd kick me. Not many weapon users would actually bother getting that physical."

He finally let go while walking backwards. The teacher felt a bit of sweat that clung onto his back and stuck his shirt onto him more. It hasn't been a while, but certainly age and his much sedentary lifestyle through smoking and teaching has deteriorated his stamina a lot. It was clear to him that he has suffered from depreciation of his physique and skills at least.

"It's game and set unless you have something up your sleeve. Though it's pretty doubtful in my point of view. After all, many fights should be seen as a game of chess actually."

He allowed himself to roll his shoulders a bit out of habit to dissipate whatever stress has been laden in there. The girl was not bad. She had a lot to work on. Timing and decisive quick thinking were the two things she needed to improve on after all. And of course, knowing when the inevitable was coming. However, it was still too early for him to make a clear analysis just yet.

"Don't worry about hurting me. I'm more worried if you have any injuries. Are you alright at least?"

Then there came the pain of hunger. Whatever this girl made, it had to be better than some of the microwavable meals Jin had to rely on.

"Let's eat for a bit. I'm a bit famished."

“Probably. It is good to be versatile in battle. Granted, I have never had to get physical in the club, it doesn’t hurt. Since polearms’ weakness tends to be easy to get to. One you grab past the blade, it is over for the one using it,” she said with a nod. The weapon was made to intimidate and keep enemies away as well as stabbing forward. Slashing could work sure, but it was not nearly as easy. Lorielle would stand up after being ;let go, patting herself off. “Yeah I’m alright. I have had worse than that. Fell on the dance floor at work one night and a couple people fell over me,” she said with a laugh. True story indeed. When he decided to take a break, Lorielle was more than willing to take a small sit down and eat. She did not go out and get something for Zong Wu; actually she had made it herself. It had not been her first time cooking, but it was not something she was great at. But it was customary to at least give thanks to her sensei, so she did the best she could. She would walk by the tree and grab the small bag and sat down.

Once opening the bag, the smell of Italian-style meat would fill the air around the tree. She had made several meatballs, given inspiration from her recent agreement to go with a friend to an Italian restaurant. The meatballs were surrounded by noodles and had a mildly thick tomato sauce on them. It was actually a bit too thick…as she had either put too much starch into it, or overheated it and made it all grimy. The noodles were flavorless saved for some salt to add to it. It seemed like an average meal to Lorielle when she tasted it. But it couldn’t hurt. She would bid Zong Wu to come over if he had not already. Lorielle would give a sigh of embarrassment and pulled out the small plate wrapped in tin foil. It was enough for two clearly, but no more. Taking the tin foil off, the messy. Red and yellow spaghetti would be revealed. “Dig in! I hope you like it. It gives energy so I thought it would be appropriate. Also, I have not cooked much,” she admitted. Might as well get that out of the way. “So, I am hoping it won’t be too bad,” she said. She would let him get the first bite before she did.

"You pretty much summed it up."

Jin had to arch a skeptical eyebrow at her story on the dance floor. Of course, he quirked a grin at how funny it sounded. But he kept his thoughts to himself as they started to walk over to their meals. The mystery dishes that have been waiting for them since the beginning of the practice. His stomach had been waiting for this moment as it churned uselessly for sustenance. As she opened the bag, the Chinese could smell the familiar aroma of Italian he once tried in a few restaurants back in the States.

Upon receiving his meal, he looked at it for a while. Knowing this kind of Italian smell, he was already expecting it wouldn't look that presentable. But, this didn't seem that much different from his microwavable meals. It's... a bit disappointing at first glance. But he still needed to taste it. With the girl looking back at him, he had no choice.

"Well.. Don't mind if I do."

With the plastic fork, that swirled around a bit to gather the strands of noodles, Jin bowed down his neck to actually try to consume her dish. As his first bite had been taken, the first thing that came to mind is that the texture wasn't quite right. The noodles weren't even al dente as there was a huge lack of flavor, save for the saltiness. Lorielle wasn't kidding when she claimed she didn't cook in a long time.

"It's not bad," Jin lied smoothly between his teeth while licking off the sauce from his mouth.

Though perhaps his lie would be seen through once she also took the bite...

Watching him eat it, Lorielle would wait, until seeing the rather…disappointed look in his face. It was only to be expected given her little experience in cooking. “Gah, sorry bout that…I bought some actual drinks on the way that were not made by me if you were worried,” she said, pulling from the bag, two bottles of green tea she brought along the way. She did not know what he liked, so it seemed best to go with the easy route. Then again the easy route was probably water, but that felt a bit boring right next to her meatball crash. She would hand him the bottle, and open her own and take a small sip. “Much better. Helps wash down the food huh?” she said with a sheepish laugh.

"Oh no, it's fine. It's not bad, I said."

It looks like his own little ruse was easily seen through. Was she able to tell past through his facade? Interesting. It's a good thing she was able to bring some beverages. And it was green tea to boot. Hopefully it's taste would clear out as he took a swig of the drink. As the slightly bitter taste of the fluid was consumed, Jin was left with an empty mouth.

"Yeah, I guess," he agreed hesitantly as he glanced back at the caloric information of the tea.

There was still a good amount of it left. So in this case... the teacher simply continued to eat despite his recent experience in its taste. Of course, he would take random momentary sips of Lorielle's tea to make all the eating bearable. After all, to leave food unfinished would be rude to her.

In between bites, Jin spoke while covering his mouth, "You weren't quite bad yourself."

He paused to finish consuming the strands and taking a swig to make speaking much easier. His fork was already swiveling around to collect more of the noodles for another bite.

"It's really a matter of having better judgement and timing. I don't think there's much else to worry about."

He helped himself to another bite as the spaghetti disappeared in a bite. Jin squinted his eyes a little at response to the sensation and taste this spaghetti was giving him while chewing. He looked down to check his progress on how much he needed to finish. And by God, he only was able to get through about a tenth of it...

"Anyways, thanks for the meal," he added while chewing.