Uncertain Recruit [Ree]

Maria wasn't so sure about this. She never really liked garnering any attention, but certain people made it difficult for her. The girl had heard about Orishiki dojo in passing, but she didn't quite remember where. Probably at school by hearsay when she was listlessly sweeping her broom in class after school. Wherever Maria heard it from, it would prove to be a boon. Sister Louise stopped bothering to teach her anything else. She knew it was mostly laziness on the matriarch's part, but what else can the girl do? There was a limit to what self-training can do.


"So this is the place." she finally remarked to herself upon laying her eyes on it.

Maria felt increasingly self-conscious with the huge burden glue to her back. She was bound to garner attention from everyone around her. And who wouldn't notice a young bespectacled girl carrying a coffin that was a size bigger than her? Each day, she would loathe the experience, but the nun-in-training grit her teeth and bared with it.

With a hesitant hand, Maria grasped the door and slowly opened to begin entering.

As the door opened the first thing the girl would witness is a male student looking out of breath backing away from a room a bit further in. From said room, there was loud thud and what sounded like someone yelling the word defend to another in an agitated voice. The male student that stood outside simply winced at whatever he saw before turning and heading away from the room. As he hurried along the hallway, apparently done for the day, he would hardly glance at the girl that had entered. No he was much to ashamed to bother with walk-ins at the moment.

There was the muffled sound of more scuffling coming from the room the student had fled from and shortly after the sound began another thud would follow. There was the sound of some form of discussion and then a door sliding open followed shortly by the sound of hurried footsteps. A few seconds later, a much larger male student came from around the corner looking a bit banged up as he hurried passed the girl at the door. His facial expression almost look like he wanted to cry, but why that had happened was unknown. In any case, after he passed the dojo became semi-quiet once more, leaving the girl at the door to come further in if she wished. From the hallway that the two males had fled from, the sound of something being moved about could be heard. Outside of this the dojo remained more less peaceful and tranquil for the moment. So the question was: what would the girl at the door do now?

When Maria walked in, she had expected the sound of kiais, constructive orders, and attacks resounding in the air. She got part of that and a little bit more. The girl expected the two boys to take a double-take at the massive coffin behind her, but they seemed more afraid what lied further ahead. Perhaps, this was a sign that maybe she came to the right and wrong place. She was starting to feel antsy at the lone sound coming from deeper inside. Was this a good idea? Maybe it wasn't. But she came all this far...

Maria walked on in further inside to see what this establishment had to offer. Not before taking off her shoes at the door and giving her own announcement, "Uh... Hello? Anyone there? Is this the Ori-Shiki Dojo?"

There was anticipation and worry beating in her heart. What kind of harsh and cruel taskmaster would live inside this dojo? It was time to find out.

The sounds of something being moved would continue a while longer before the girl’s question seemed to halt whatever was going on. As soon as the sound stopped, the girl could hear the soft pad of someone walking and then from somewhere near her a door would slide open and a head of brown hair would poke out. It appeared to be a young woman with dark brown hair wearing the usual pants and top of a martial artist in training. She didn’t have any shoes on and her short brown hair was allowed to hang loose as she turned her head towards the one who had entered.

As her honey brown eyes landed on the girl at the door, she would give the other a friendly smirk.

“Well, hello there! Sorry for the delay, had to take care of something back there. Anyway. Yes this is the one and only Ori-Shiki Dojo. I am afraid it is a bit quiet right now since you have arrived before the main rush. Stick around for a while and you’ll see what I mean,” the woman would say her tones friendly and welcoming as she watched the other. She took note of the strange item the young lady carried at her back and raised an eyebrow curiously. What exactly was that and how was it that a young woman could handle what appeared to be such a heavy burden? Interested by the show, the young woman would continue.

“Why don’t you come in and take your load off? That looks pretty heavy, miss..?” the woman would trail off leaving the other to give her name if she wanted to. Could this really have been the same voice the girl had heard earlier? Or what had made the two males from earlier flee? Could it really have been this young woman?

She was curious as to who would be coming. But it turns out to be just a woman in her karate-gi. Was she the reason why those two boys were running out? A look of askance was clearly etched on her face, but she nodded at her. "I think I would like to do that."

Maria would un-shoulder her coffin so that her fingers grasped the straps and let the body of the container dangle loosely in front of her. But she just wasn't sure where to put it. Maybe inside the dojo? At the least she wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to take it, not that anyone would try with something this huge.

When she entered, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. It was... big. Even bigger than the Church's basement where she usually trained with Louise. Perhaps to others they weren't too big, but for her, it was a lot bigger than the dank cement underground smell. And to boot, it wasn't even dusty. Maybe she was in the right place after all.


Maria wasn't sure if there's any place this coffin wouldn't get in the way of. Sure, the dojo was big. But sparring and drills tend to take up a huge space whenever necessary. She looked at the karate-attired girl and waited for her answer. When Maria got her answer, she would set the coffin aside at the desired place. "I'm Maria. Maria Woodsworth. Is the master of the place still here?"

The woman would come out of the room a bit more as the other spotted her. She could see questions written on the girl’s face, but for the moment she would not be the one to pry for what the girl wanted. No, if this one wanted to know something, then she would simply have to ask on her own. However, it seemed for now, the girl kept what curiosities she had at bay as she took the invitation of dropping her load. As the woman watched her take the large item off with such ease, she had to admit the show of strength was indeed impressive, but at the same time she had to wonder if it was all show. You know the type of show that was used to impress and wow the world until someone came in and revealed that said show of strength was all fake? That the all so heavy item was hollow and full of air? The type of play that the woman saw as disgraceful in her line of business, but hopefully this kid didn’t fall into that box. Maybe she could get some proof a bit later, but for now she had to play hostess to her guest.

She would stand in the hall with her hands on her hip as she watched the girl come further in. As the girl entered and her eyes widened in awe, the tomboy of a woman would find herself smirking with a bit of pride.

“The dojo is pretty impressive, isn’t it? And to think you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” she said letting the girl take in the place as much as she wanted before answering her question when it came to where exactly she was supposed to put her odd burden.

“I am quite sure we can find a spot for the item. Come on. You can set it down over here,” the woman said as she moved down the hall with grace to an area that served as a holding area for many of the students personal belongs. There were lockers and cubicles of all sizes and shapes to accommodate whatever a person may bring in. Granted, when the place was built they did not consider coffin sized items, but even so with a bit of reorganizing, Ree was able to make a space for the item.

Once that was done, the woman would take in the name given with a nod.

“My name is Ree Claire. It is nice meeting you, Maria,” she would say before turning to leave the area. She would motion with her hand for Maria to come. If the girl followed, the woman would begin to walk along the halls at a casual pace as she spoke. “So Ms. Woodsworth. What brings you to our humble establishment today?” she would ask before falling silent to let the other answer and when poked with a question in turn, the woman would answer.

“Oh, he comes around here and there to check on things, but mainly it’s just me running the place in his stead. I would love to introduce you to him, but I am afraid today he is away, so maybe next time if you decide you want to visit again.”

Maria could scarcely believe her ears when Ree said this wasn't everything. The girl had wondered why she spent so much time training in that small basement for so long when there were places like this. But she soon realized Sister Louise didn't like leaving the Church a lot. Maria did her best to not show herself rolling her eyes at the memory. There was a lot about Louise that warranted much more, but she was a "kindly" person befitting her station... or so many have thought. Maria followed Ree down the hall while marveling her controlled and relaxed movements.

"This is actually great. Thanks!" she beamed a smile at Ree upon the assistance.

She was rather thankful there was a holding area somewhere that allowed her to deposit her burdens. As Maria finally put it down, she did so gingerly and slowly so as to not break anything. But try as she might, the coffin made a small thud against the floor. While not damaging it, it should be an obvious sign that there was actual weight to it. Maria winced at the noise and looked back apologetically at Ree as they were walking out of the area.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Claire," she eagerly replied back, "I was hoping to see if I could hone my skills or take part in any training around here if that's alright."

A holding room that could hold the coffin and a large dojo? Seems like her kind of place alright. Maria was eager to start signing and training. But of course, she would have to gauge how good this place really was. Money could get you training equipment, but it can't easily get you a really great teacher at times.

"Oh, that's alright. We can always meet later when it's most convenient for him. I just wanted to come by and see what this place was like. Is there an incoming class soon that I can watch?"

It was a tad disappointing the actual master wasn't here. But at least there was someone who watched over this place for the man.

"Earlier you said there was a main rush coming. Is it usually quiet in the morning?" Maria asked with expectancy.

Morning training wasn't what she liked in all honesty. But if it got her to avoid other people's attention, the better.

“Of course. This place was built to help train the very best, so naturally the place wasoutfitted to accommodate the various styles and people that come here,” she would say to the girl, her tones remaining friendly all the while. It was interesting to see someone so interested in the place. Most that came here already knew what they were getting themselves into or had done so much research that it was hardly logical to offer a tour or any form of introduction for the dojo. To see one that seemed to be pretty new to the place was kind of refreshing.

Regardless of this, Ree would not let the amusement keep her from doing her job as a guide. When she took the girl to the room to place her item down, she made sure to take routes that would allow the girl to get a better look at the dojo. They would pass some rooms that revealed various equipment used for training while others held a few students that came to meditate before practice or a long day of work or school.

When they arrived at the holding area for all personal belongings, Ree would watch as the girl put the item she carried with her down and found herself mildly surprise as she heard the distinctive thud of weight when the coffin touched the floor. When the girl, gave her the apologetic look, she would shake her with a smirk.

“Don’t look so worried about it. The floor is fine,” she would say showing that the girl really didn’t have anything to apologize for. The floor wasn’t torn up or anything, so that was good. But seriously...

The smirk would fade a bit as curiosity came over her.   “What exactly is in there?” she would ask with a light tilt of her head. It wasn’t that she was overly concerned with the item as sometimes she did come across a person or two that brought with them their own set of odd things into the dojo. Even so the thud from the coffin had sparked her interest, so she had asked her question.

In any case, Ree would let that conversation go where it would before leading the girl out of the room and through the dojo at a casual pace. Without saying anything she was giving the girl a tour of the place as they chatted.

“You can just call me by my first name,” she would say as she waved away the formalities. There was no need for that at the moment.

“Well, if you are looking to train and become better, then this is the best place to make tht wish come true,” the woman would say as she glanced over her shoulder at the other briefly before refocusing on the path they were on.

She would continue the tour bring it to an end within a large room with floors that seemed to be designed to take impact of various kinds. As they entered the large room, Ree would signal Maria to stay put in the middle of the room as she moved off to the side to open a few windows to let in the air. As soon as she did this, a rather large black bird would flutter to the window and settle on the sill as it let out a “caw” before tilting its head one way and then the other as it observed the other in the room.

Quite used to this particular visitor, Ree would shake her head as she came back to Maria stopping a respectful distance away from her.

“I am sure the Master would enjoy a chat with you when the time comes,” she would say picking up the conversation from where they left off as she reached into one of her sleeves and pulled out what appeared to be bandages. Slowly, she would begin to wrap her hands as she continued to speak.

“The early morning hours are the most quiet considering most prefer to work, have early school schedules, or find some other distraction to keep them away. Usually our older students and the few that will actually roll out of the bed early for a round or two come in during this time. The advantage of the calm is it gives those that take make the most of it time to get one-on-one training from trainers that are usually focused on many when in a class or even get in some practice in with weaponry they may fancy. Some even come in just to mediate before starting the day. We do have a few small morning classes. The first should be rolling in an hour or so from now. Our bigger classes typically come during the afternoon when more people are awake and willing to come in for practice. The classes are quite impressive and while I would love to let you observe a class, I have something more practical for you,”  the woman would pause as she finished tightening the bandages around her hands. She would test the balance of tightness as she flexed her fingers and then seeming content, she would look over at Maria as with an odd smirk.

“You said earlier you were looking to join a class or hone your skills. So how about it? Want to try your luck with some hand-to-hand combat training?” she would ask as she shifted her weight to her back leg and placed a hand her hip as honey brown eyes watched the other.

This place was just getting better and better by the minute! Different styles didn't just mean different techniques, but also different ways of approaching a situation. Maria had always been worried of being just a mere meatcake with that strength of hers. Louise had always complained about her just settling to be a meathead for so long. Those complaints ran through her mind incessantly. But she had to admit the nun was right for many reasons. Strength was always good to have, but learning how to use it made it more effective and efficient. And Maria was at that stage to actually learn how to use it better. With all the equipment in the room and what else the facility had to offer, Maria was more or less sold, almost.


"Let's just say it's a good luck charm," Maria explained with a nervous smile. She honestly wasn't at liberty to actually explain what she was carrying. Well, she could, but it was a bit personal. The girl hoped Ree would keep it at that. Inside was the inert Demon Weapon that the eggheads given her. It would be more trouble than its worth to explain why it's there, at least that's what Maria felt.

"Oh, alright. Ree, it is. I'm looking forward to my stay then," she nodded back in understanding and then found herself blinking at the big black bird near Ree, "Hi there, how are you?"

Maria waved at the crow with a gentle smile. She wondered if it was a pet. It seemed like it, but it was a peculiar choice. It might take her a while to get used to its odd presence. The girl wondered if it likes shiny things?

"Of course, I'll be waiting for that day, Ree," she replied while idly noting the girl was bandaging her fists, "Mornings seem to be a good time for me. Gives me less attention from other people."


Her face seemed to turn rather serious once Ree finally finished wrapping her hands to protect them. Maria gave her a composed expression that lacked the earlier cheeriness. She only nodded at her offer before taking off her glasses and setting it safely to the side at the sill where it won't get crushed. After bobbing down her head in a bow to Ree, Maria soon took up a stance of her own. Perhaps it was something that Ree would notice peculiar. The girl's arms were down with her left foot forward and back foot behind while lifting up its heel. As far as Maria knew, her style didn't have a name.

It was a stance that focused on fast reaction and maneuverability, unlike the more defensive stance she usually used in her own training. Of course, she was trying to avoid powering through things. So this was a good opportunity to try practicing what the nun had taught her. Maria remembered the two students that quickly fled the dojo. Perhaps she was very formidable herself, and that was a safe bet to land on.

Maria gazed at her height and the entirety of her body to try to see what kind of information she should keep in mind as far as range goes. She nodded at Ree to say, "Let us begin."

“A good luck charm, huh?”  Ree would respond back as she tilted her head slightly to the side with a small frown of thought as she considered the words and the behavior. That was certainly the strangest good luck charm she had ever seen, but then again she had seen and heard stranger. In any case whatever the coffin truly was, the story behind it seemed to make the girl nervous, so instead of prying, the smile would return to Ree’s face as she gave the other a nod. “Alright then fair enough,” she said as she continued to move and show the girl around. As they moved, she would subtle watch the girl and her reaction to the place.

Well, at least this one seemed impressed by the facility and to be quite frank who wouldn’t be? The dojo was designed to train the best and bow to any style imaginable. It had a solid backing from the very blood that ran the city and its trainers’ reputations were more than mere words. Yes, Ori-shiki Dojo was the best place to come to become strong. It was something to be proud of for sure, but the only pride that was shown by Ree was an amused, yet humble smirk she wore as she played tour guide for the girl.

When their tour came to an end in one of the facilities more spacious training rooms, Ree would go about preparing the room. When the crow arrived and let out a caw,  Ree took note of how Maria actually spoke to the bird. Now that was something different. She didn’t see too many actually greet the creature with friendliness. No, most of the time people became distracted or nervous with it around. One would think it would ruin lessons and such, but quite frankly all it did was watch quietly from a perch at the window with a strange tilt of its head here and there.

The only thing the bird usually accomplished was distracting her students and causing them to get a rather heavy handed lesson in focus. It was strange, but as much as this bird could annoy her at times, its presence also had its plus sides too. In any case, to the girl’s greeting the bird would hop slightly on the sill to better face her as it tilted its head one way then the other at the sound of her voice before letting out another caw in response. Whether the bird actually understood what had been said or not was a mystery, but its reaction was impressively right on time nonetheless.

Shaking her head lightly in amusement at this, Ree would continue wrapping her hands until she was finished. She would only give a light nod and a smile at the talk on meeting the Master of the dojo not finding much else to say to that as she completed her task and focused on the girl fully.

“It will be nice to see a new face on the grounds then. I am sure some of our early birds would even be happy to assist you in your training once you’ve found your balance. If you stay dedicated to the practice and schedule, you’ll be finding yourself doing some amazing things in no time,” the woman would say before issuing her challenge.

When the girl accepted and prepared herself, Ree smirked quite pleased. This was honestly her favorite part of training. She loved the hands on approach, finding it more effective than forcing students to sit through long chats like some trainers liked to do. She found it easier to teach via demonstrations rather than a whole bunch of words, but to each their own she supposed.

Her smirk would remain for only a second before it vanished, as her posture changed to a more formal one for the moment. She would ball her left hand into a fist and move it to her open left palm. She would keep her hands in the strange form before her and gave the other a formal bow, her eyes would never leave her opponent. Once that was done, she would straighten again as she shifted only slightly in her spot, relaxing before she looked over at the girl with narrowed eyes.

“You have first strike,” she would say her voice soft and serious as she raised her left hand and gestured for the other to come at her before dropping it back to her side and waiting to see what the girl would do.

Maria could only smile sheepishly back at Ree, "Alright, I'll hold you to your word."

Scheduling was a bit odd for Maria. Many things could happen and she tended to volunteer herself to help out at school and even in the Church. It was a bit new, with getting involved with a dojo now added with some school. But it's nothing worrisome at the very least.

Back to the fight at hand, as soon as Ree mentioned the words "first strike", Maria was already moving which might catch the woman off guard. But the girl doubted it since Ree seemed to be a capable person herself. The nun-in-training was primed and ready to get her body moving as the balls of her hind foot kicked her forward into a lunge towards Ree.

Maria started to raise her right hand as if trying to deliver a basic haymaker to Ree's face while her shoulders started to lean to the left as she seemingly tried to punch with her whole weight to give the impression that she was being a complete amateur. It was a ballsy move, of course. But that was the thin veneer of what she truly aimed to do. She lacked any knowledge of what Ree was actually capable of as far as things like timing and reaction goes. This was a test to get a better idea of what Ree could do.

In actuality, it was a feint as she quickly drew back the fist to immediately and suddenly shift her hips and body to the right while aiming to deal a left hook to her abdomen's left side. The right fist was held back near Maria's face as an immediate guard in case the karate attired woman would try to counter to that side. If Ree took this blow, she likely would find it a heavy hit given what Maria was capable of strength-wise. Yet, she didn't bother to exceed her limits here. The girl wasn't here to kill, but to learn. And to power through like a mad bull wasn't what she came here for.

Whether or not the left hook hit Ree, Maria was prepared to shift her movement to begin evading whatever the woman would throw at her in response.

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Ree would only give a light nod to the statement given before becoming focused on the issue at of battle. She took note of the girl’s quick action that hardly gave a novice time to react; however, Ree was no novice.

Keeping her legs slightly bent at the knees, Ree would watch the attack that was seemingly coming straight towards her face. Without hesitation, she would lower her body as her left arm rose up in a quick motion to guard against what appeared to be a straight forward attack. The idea was to hit the offending arm from underneath before using another move to latch onto the girl; however, before it made contact with her, the girl would shift her tactics and try to attack unexpectedly from the left. Clever.

Staying in motion, Ree’s right arm and hand move across her body lashing out with quickness to catch the girl’s wrist while her guarding left arm came down in an attempt to pin the arm as she shifted her weight to the right and pulled the girl towards her hopefully knocking her off balance. If successful, she would attempt to use the girl’s momentum and her own turning motion to drag the unbalanced girl to the right, releasing her close to the end of the turn. If all had worked, Maria would find herself going towards the ground with the power of the throw...

Maria expected as much that Ree would quickly react to the sudden rush and to the feint. But it did give her some information. Ree seemed to prefer throws and putting off her opponent's balance judging from her reaction. This wouldn't be the first time the blue-head was thrown and she knew the drill.

While Ree did try to throw her off-balance, Maria quickly shifted her footwork by having her right hind foot step forward as the leading foot to maintain balance. Said foot stomped harshly in the area between Ree's feet to maintain balance while Maria's free right hand swiped towards the left side of the lapel of Ree's gi. Upon grabbing it and then twisting up to form a tight seal to prevent her from easily letting go, Maria had grabbed hold on Ree's gi. It was, in some sense, unfortunate for Ree. The gi was made for easy grabbing for the sake of training whereas Maria was dressed normally. Upon grabbing, Maria would jerk on it towards herself so as to pull herself close to Ree chest to chest and to prevent completely losing her center of gravity so easily.

Doing so had put both of them in extremely close quarters of each other where they could feel each other breathing. But as an effect of Maria closing the distance like this, Ree's own arms were too extended to her right side. This gave the girl enough agency to her left arm to free itself by pulling back while twisting the arm, so that its clasped fingers faced upwards, since the current position prevented Ree from having enough movement to stick to grasping on Maria's arm.


Maria was a striker, not so much of a thrower, but she's capable of it. Yet even in this situation, she was going for one as there was a glint in her eyes. With her right hand still grasping the lapel on Ree's gi, the girl pulled it again downwards so that the woman's right side would be more exposed while forcing her to lean downward to her left. It would so that Maria could give another attempt at a hard left hook to the gut once more aiming at Ree's right side while also attempting to upset Ree's balance.

The throw would fail as the girl managed to recompose her center of gravity. As her right hand came forward to grasp Ree's lapel, the young woman would go with the movement of the pull as her left foot slid across the floor before coming down to the ground with a solid thud as she rebalanced herself to keep from stumbling too much. As she moved, her body would rotate to the left as she made her left side become as perpendicular to the girl as possible within close quaters. As she turned her she would lower dropping her stance and center of gravity a bit as she pulled her left arm back quickly with the shift of her wait. She would attempt to use quick close quarter elbow jab straight for the girl’s stomach area to force her to loosen her grip and lose her focus on her follow up. If the elbow attack worked, it would force the wind out of the girl and cause her to back off, but also lean forward as the body naturally reacted to the hefty blow.

If this, then Ree would shift her weight back a bit as her right foot circled around to bring her to the right side of the girl. Staying within close proximity would allow her to use the momentum of her turn as she brought her right arm around and up to form a solid L which she would then use to strike at the girl’s exposed back with an elbow drop. If it worked, the girl would feel the pain of the heavy yet controlled elbow strike. The blow had enough strength to send your average joe to the floor; however, if the girl managed to still stand then a second would quickly follow the first without mercy.