The Essentials of Combat. [Elyss/Magnolia/Open]

“It’s the same as last time, huh?”

Solid black orbs that shined in the sun’s glory and reflected its glow giving her gaze a startling accidental heaviness. She looked as if she had a clear goal in mind with little room for any tomfoolery, but in actuality, she’s just lost in thought and her face is scrunched up in self-scrutiny. Seeing as this particular training field is the same as every other training field, Elyss doesn’t feel that drive to actually participate with any of the individuals training. Why are most of them so battered anyway? Truly, this area is living up to the old sensei stereotype which just turns her off more and causes her to recede deeper into her mind. Though, as soon as she does, she is met by her inner spirit’s voice reminding her to keep her eyes focused on the path in front of her before she walks into a flying fist and ends up hospitalized again for being an idiot.

“Well, sorry that I’m bored.”

Elyss’ rebuttal is pretty lame, and the redhead loses care for her own thoughts in favor of watching her environment more: a fistfight in front of her, Kido training over there, and a woman by her lonesome meditating. The last out of the three catches her attention, not because of anything that one would notice physically, but Elyss can sense that this blonde individual held power within her. Elyss isn’t the best at detecting Reiatsu, but after so long with Ulv, the redhead has some affinity for sniffing out a strong individual. Though, the quantity of this power is beyond her ability to truly scope to its fullest. Elyss simply knows that among the few around, the woman her onyx eyes are on is the strongest. That leaves one question. Why is she alone just sitting there doing nothing? Is she waiting for someone: a late friend, a rival, or for someone to take an interest in her? Elyss wonders why no one seems to care for this powerhouse amongst them.

“Hey. Woohoo. Who are you? Lost or something?”

Well, it’s best to get an idea for the situation, yeah? Maybe this woman actually needed some help. So, Elyss finds herself walking up nonchalantly with curiosity literally spewing from her facial expression; the hardness of her eyes replaced with a soft interest. Elyss has on her normal uniform in its black color scheme compared to this woman’s white shikakusho. Hopefully, walking close to this stranger turns out to be a good idea and not one that Elyss regrets. She doesn’t actually want to end up bedridden again if she’s being honest with herself. The words of Ulv are still fresh in her mind.

Eh? That isn’t how you greet someone. Though, there’s a twinge in Elyss’ mind at such bravado being displayed randomly. Ah. That makes sense, yeah? Someone sitting in the training grounds as if waiting for something, and as someone approaches, they rise and taunt them. This woman wants a fight and was waiting for someone to step up. Elyss just happened to be that person. Just her luck. She’s spent all day with her duties, and now that she has some time to herself, she simply wanted to rest. Training didn’t seem appealing on this particular day, but…

Now, don’t be afraid Master.

Elyss frowned as her own twisted voice echoed through her mind. Tenmarin, huh? Why must that damn spirit speak up at the worst of times just to taunt her? When was Elyss ever one for turning down a clear challenge? Never. So, why start now. Oh yeah. She could feel it. Adrenaline pumping through her body in anticipation already. There’s always one thing Tenmarin and her could agree on at all times, a fight. She’s not gonna walk out of this in one piece is she? Bwah. Who cares?

“That’s not how you greet people concerned about you, but I guess we both don’t care now, huh?”

She rolls her shoulders before pounding her fist into an open palm. Fine. She quickly discards her Zanpakutos to the ground a few feet away with a simply flick of her wrist and takes a stance: her arms are brought up like a boxer but one is lower than the other like many martial arts as her legs spread even to her shoulders. Great. Just great. No turning back now. It seems she’s expected to move first. Fine!

She smirks widely preparing for pain as she simply presses her feet against the ground before charging forward quickly. Her right arm raises upwards as a strength filled jab is launched towards this woman. Of course, her form isn’t perfect. It’s obvious she’s not putting her all into everything, but she didn’t want to simply throw her full weight around just yet. She left herself light to allow for quick reactions just in case this person does something impressive.

Idiot.

That’s probably what Tenmarin is thinking of Elyss at this very moment. Launching herself without thinking like that? What a bothersome Shinigami Elyss is when it comes to tack on the battlefield. Does the redhead have no self worth when the health of her body is on the line? Of course not! What’s the point of fighting if you’re too careful? Protecting yourself should be an instinct in the midst of battle that happens without thought. If one has to overthink about keeping themselves from harm, then the fun of it all is lost. Such thoughts are best left in situations like these were death isn’t possible however. Would Elyss truly throw herself like this at an actual opponent? Does she even have control over that?

Right now, she knows she has little control in this situation. Right when she thought her fist would land, it didn’t. There was no room to adjust. Everything was done perfectly to counter her movements exactly when they were needed. It’s strange being able to see the moment that you’ll receive some form of pain. Her stony gaze watched the hand move into her as her legs are swept from under her forward. Soon, the world is spinning. No wait. She is spinning. This is new. She’s never been airborne like this, but she doubts it’ll last long. Strange for her to feel so aware despite her position, words filling her ears waking her up more.

Oh! There’s a tingling. Her arms moved, but they didn’t know where to go before a foot flat against her body sent her sprawling away through the air like the sacks of sand she remembers throwing around in some far off memory. Ah! Right before she hit the ground, she feels her legs curl and her arms bend to soften her land sending her rolling and bouncing a bit before settling onto the ground with her eyes spinning and looking up into the sky. What the Hell just happened?

After everything is done, Elyss’ mind finally makes sense of the words spoken before her tragic launch. Momentum? Fists and Feet? Ugh… A lesson? Well, she can’t say that the bit of information isn’t useful. Though, she’d rather have been taught better in a way that didn’t have her body feeling like this, but what better way to teach than to experience it for yourself? Ah. This brings back memories. When was the last time she was on her back like this? She couldn’t help but start to snicker which turns into a hearty chuckle as she sits up rubbing the back of her head and looks over at the woman who handled her so easily.

“Other mistake? To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking that much about my attack. I just saw an open invitation and decided to step into the oven. Guess it was a bit too hot for me to handle, but I prefer my meals a bit on the burnt side.”

She chuckles a bit more as she rises and rolls her shoulders. Ah. Man, it really has been a while, but she did charge, and she’s not planning to back down that easily. If this is a lesson, then, why not? She’s always up for learning, and when it comes to a task at hand, she always tries to give it her all.

“Heh. Your feet reminds me a bit of boxing. Mind telling me what exactly else I was missing there?”

Her statement wasn’t meant for anything except to job her memory of other fights she had been in as she doesn’t take. She’d rather learn her mistake first though before charging in again. It’s no good to half ass something you don’t really understand.

Elyss’ eyes followed the finger’s direction to her discarded twin Zanpakuto. Huh. So that’s what she did wrong. Though, she didn’t think that was a mistake on her part. Despite putting her swords down, she didn’t actually lose any battle proficiency considering her focus on hand-to-hand combat over swordsmanship. However, she understands this woman’s meaning. It was never said Elyss couldn’t use her Zanpakuto, but seeing how her opponent stood without a weapon in hand, Elyss simply assumed the type of fighting that would occur. But, Elyss is unsure if she could believe the statement about her Zanpakuto never betraying her. Tenmarin isn’t that cooperative when it comes to sharing the same interests as its Shinigami. Still, the Spirit probably had a desire to win a fight as much as Elyss which means it would not purposely cause her to lose even if it brings her victory through means less desired. If that’s the case, it seems she should activate that specific ability that Tenmarin had shared with her.

Elyss moves her eyes to woman to catch sight of her smile. Elyss’ body tightened as the other neared, but her guard is quick to dissolve noting that no harm is being aimed at her person just yet. Strange to hear that such a proficient combatant knows nothing about boxing. It shares many things with what just occurred despite how differently the techniques were applied. Elyss kept her attention on the blonde while thinking herself about what just occurred. Splitting her attention, Elyss begins going over her own thoughts of what is being described to her.

Boxing. It’s a competitive sport these days composed of two individuals squaring off in a hands only fight. It depends greatly on distance and watching your opponent's movements. Taking what was said, Elyss can see exactly what happened in her mind. She threw a wild swing and was simply countered. Though, in a boxing ring, she would have been punished with an uppercut or a quick hook to her jaw followed by other dangerous combinations. However, seeing how boxing is a foriegn concept, it made sense for the blonde to go about it in a different fashion such as stepping in and grabbing her to either send her sprawling or use another technique to injure her further. That’s pretty much what differs different styles of fighting. There are a lot of shared concepts, but the way they are applied is what set things a part. Every fighting style is concerned with body movement and feet placement. Elyss would chalk down this moment as some strange martial arts she knows little about, but Elyss can’t shake the feeling that it’s not that foriegn to her.

Then, Elyss hears something she understands. Funny how the redhead has tried fighting like that, waiting for her opponent to strike first while watching their movements to gauge how to successfully counter when an opening is made from overcommitment or a mistake. Now, Elyss’ interest has been captured completely, and the redhead couldn’t hide the small smirk that her lips formed as she nods and moves her hands to her hips with a sigh.

“Well, I have nothing better to do today, so I’ll take you up on your offer. Besides, the chance to grow is always invited. I guess I should get a bit more serious myself however. You said I shouldn’t have discarded my Zanpakuto, but this is our preferred fighting style.”

She mentions moving into a stance herself sliding her feet shoulder width apart as her right slide behind her left. Her arms move up at bending at 90 degree angles; her right arm mimicking her leg as it rests slightly lower than her left arm with her hands balled into fists. It seems to be a mixture between a boxers guarded stance and something akin to Tai Chi.

“The name’s Elyss Kishimoto by the way.”

Every aspect... Recollection of past battles strike the back of Elyss’ mind reminding her of every fight she’s ever been in. Tch. Never has she incorporated her feet in such intricate ways when brawling. It’s always been her fists that have done most of the work. Though, there’s no time to worry about that. Setting aside those thoughts quickly, the name of her opponent signals the moment where seriousness is needed at its fullest; attention focused entirely on the trading of blows.

Magnolia. Heh… This is sure to be something else. Elyss felt every muscle in her body tighten as Magnolia exploded forward; eyes widened in alertness. That scream is one way to announce an attack, but Elyss is unsure how exactly she is soon to be assaulted until she feels her ankle kicked causing her foot to slide backwards. Dammit! Her feet were planted too heavily on the ground without her attention down there. It made it all too easy for her to get put off balance. Forward she falls watching Magnolia move her body into an inward coiled position. Seconds is all she has to move her arms over her midsection creating a buffer for the feet that soon collided into her sending her backwards through the air.

Luckily, she had controlled the impact just a bit, just enough to make her roll as she put herself into a ball like form as she flew letting her quickly roll onto her feet. Footwork! Watch her feet. Tch. She can’t let something like that happen again if she could help it, but she has bigger problems she notes seeing Magnolia coming for her. Think! Watch! Prepare!

Elyss takes a breath as she rose herself and… She simply retakes her stance crouching her body slightly to make it easier to move her legs if need be. Focus… Watch… Counter...