The Prince And The Ninja

[Ishida Sai]

War and battle. One that is the synecdoche of the other. The two words that Ishida Sai resides within ever more deeply in his stay at Death City and the recent tasks/missions he was sent earlier. He knew by now his father didn't mean to send him to fix his "problems". Hell, this is the exactly last place to fix juvenile behavior to begin with. Boot camp is the ideal option and it's open during the summer. Though, why send your son here...?

The Ishida line. That is reason enough. Despite being father and son, their family history rules over their existences by the code. Their own code calls upon to throw the boy into the seemingly pit of lions. Pit being the Academy for Weapons and Meisters. It was the a good ground--- No, it's the best ground for the tiger cub to grow into an adult tiger. One which would fulfill the continuous line that has been circulating for years...

Will he follow the footsteps of all that passed by him before...? Or will he fall and declare the Ishida's to be non-existent, making all the hard work of those behind to waste? That is up to him. And no one other than him will make that decision. A decision guided by the ever cycling Wheel of Fate...

Sai could hear the continuous movements and shouts within the training room established in the Academy. From his eyes, there were a good number of his peers already making use of the tools of muscular and cardio grooming. Muscles bulging and sweat dripping... Both male and female worked and fought against each other as the minutes passed by very much a kin to a factory. The room stank of it, but the ventilation from the windows and air conditioning assisted greatly in dissipating the worst of all smells generated from the work of the body's excretory systems in sweating.

The one thing any visitor to this area could notice is that all the students here are only wearing a standard gi with a pair of tight fitting pants of differentiating dark hues in place of the white zubon pants. Obviously replacing them for better movement. The teen could remember how troublesome they were to put on back then... Which goes without saying that he wore only a pair of dark shorts going up only to the middle of his thighs like a pair of muay thai-styled sport pants with the gi.

"...Huh... There's quite a bit of people here," he commented.

Noticing there is some space to practice n the corner, Sai roused himself to walk over to his left over at the wall riddled with wooden holders obviously docked with numerous practice weapons. Almost immediately after leaning aside a couple of his peers out of his way, his hands only grasped upon a small wooden wakizashi to take the place of his usual knife. With the retrieval, the meister moved over to the open spot and started stretching while gazing the area for a potential sparring volunteer.

[aalekh]

Aalekh sighed deeply, running his hand through his hair as he entered the training room. It was a place he felt comfortable since the majority of his life was filled with training for fights and battles that would never happen. His life was full of resentment for his heritage. Everything was something he loathed and despised as a person all the wealth in the world couldn’t solve his problems. He was bred for battles that were nonexistent and on the opposite side of the coin were those who were selected for battles they didn’t train for.

Aalekh thought back on his old life and how it was so connected to places of training like these. All his life it was train for this and practice that, none of it was ever for fun and yet as he entered a place that he expected to loath he experienced a sort of exhilaration. It wasn’t an easy to pinpoint feeling and it wasn’t easy to tell why he was feeling like this. It wasn’t something that Aalekh felt on a regular basis especially since his hiatus from training exercises ever since he had run away.

Aalekh walked into the room observing all the people inside and examining them. It felt like he was just memorizing how these people fought in case he may have a run in later on. He looked at all the faces of those who were practicing some of them showing that they were having fun while others had a grim seriousness to them. It was easy to tell who was doing the practicing for fun and who was working hard at getting better. He wondered why these people participated in such acts as this for the fun of it, training to Aalekh was viewed as serious and something that took lots of effort but this may have just been an odd opinion formed from his hard training regimens.

He noticed one empty corner in particular, it seemed that even though many people sparred here there was still some room left but instead of claiming that spot Aalekh waited for someone else to approach it instead. He noticed one person in particular claim the spot and oddly enough he was by himself. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a friend in this school especially since being a new arrival made him kind of new to the whole system. Aalekh noticed everyone else’s clothing and his own lack of anything like that. He wore a pair of shorts and a normal T shirt that any person who wasn’t here for training would wear. It made him stick out like a sore thumb.

He approached swiftly and quietly picking up a weapon that he had used many times before. It was a Pata something that Aalekh had come across many times in his constant training. It was a sword like any other but the hilt and guard was the users own hand. It was fashioned after a gauntlet and you were supposed to stick your hand in it which gave you more fluid movement but you also lost the ability to use your fingers. It seemed his partner had picked up a different kind of weapon that looked much like a wakizashi. ”Hello, Names Aalekh, I guess I’ll be the one sparring with you.” Aalekh said calmly and coolly.

[Ishida Sai]

As the teen waited, he could feel someone's presence coming towards him via Soul Perception. Looking at the direction of the owner of the etheric presence, Sai met face-to-face with an overwhelmingly five foot eleven giant, dwarfing his own five' nine". Of course, he'd have seen many people with that height or even higher. Though this case, the individual seemed a bit younger than he should be.

Two years, perhaps? The difference of their years seemed apparent by two measly sets of 365 days. Looking past that, he seemed to be wearing a shirt unlike everyone. Perhaps he forgot it? Who knew, but of him?

But the one thing that Sai really had an eye on was the practice weapon he had. It seemed to be some sort of gauntlet meshed in together with a long blunted blade sticking out like a stinger of a bee. The length immediately dwarfed Sai's own wakizashi by a couple of centimeters in the double digits.

"...So..." he thoughtfully pondered, "That's my sparring partner?"

It was quite obvious how the younger teen approached him. Though the question was anything, but rhetorical in any sense.

”Hello, Names Aalekh, I guess I’ll be the one sparring with you.”

Aalekh...? It sounded as exotic as the weapon appeared. Perhaps of Indian descent. If he was... Damn he's really pale. In fact, Sai would've dismissed the fact. But then again... Who knew if he truly was from that sub-ethnic group.

"Sai," he returned the gesture with a nod, "It looks like it. I guess we should get ourselves ready then. Three minutes for the duration?"

The teen waited for the Indian to answer back...

Immediately he moved farther back, tracing his movement opposite facing Aalekh. There was one immediate advantage this person had that Sai could tell from just a look. The range from his height and the weapon. But whatever he had up his sleeves is something to be divulged into once it starts.

Bowing slightly towards him, Sai gave the initial respect towards him as stated in the Universal Statues of Etiquette in martial arts. Going first, he rushed at him with his wooden weapon ready to get inside the range.

OOC: Short post. Sorry... = =;;

Fight Music!

[aalekh]

The kid seemed a little older than him but not by too much or else it you wouldn’t really consider him a student. Aalekh wondered why he was here; maybe it was the fact that he wanted to know who he was actually fighting with. This school was filled with so many odd figures. There were so many people you could meet around here and all of them had a more diverse background then Aalekh himself who was pretty odd for any normal Shibusen student. Right now was not the time for thoughts and was the time for action, mainly fighting.

All that Aalekh had really gained from this short encounter was a name, Sai. Aalekh knew plenty of foreign names and he had assumed Sai was of Japanese nationality or at least oriental descent was the kind of person Sai was. He hadn’t actually met any Japanese people, Surprisingly enough he barely saw any tourists where he lived.

"It looks like it. I guess we should get ourselves ready then. Three minutes for the duration?

That was adequate time for Aalekh to prepare himself for the coming sparring match. It seemed he had the advantage in length but was exposed at short ranges since his sword didn’t have a hilt and proved less maneuverability. Since his left hand was empty he picked up a second weapon from the weapon storage and this time he pulled out something that looked like a brass knuckle. He didn’t remember its name but he was trained in it as well. It was a brass knuckle type objects with claws protruding out of the end of it and it seemed to be for short range since the claws weren’t long at all.

Now that both his hands were occupied Aalekh was ready to commence fighting. Sai gave a bow to him as a sign of respect that Aalekh had become very familiar with since his family called in a few non-indian tutors. Aalekh bowed back showing the exact amount of respect that he had received. ”I am ready to begin, It seems our three minutes are up anyways.”

Aalekh made the first move by making a tiny step forward and making short and quick lunges first aiming for the head before switching up what he was aiming for and targeting the legs and arms. At this point Aalekh wasn’t actually trying to hurt him but see what kind of fighting style he had by provoking him. Aalekh had many more advanced moves in sore for anyone who challenged him to a fight.

Aalekh’s current objective was to push him back and it would probably succeed if this guy dodged the attacks. Right now he looked rather sloppy and not very practiced and hopefully this might lower his enemies guard but it seemed completely unlikely that a trained soldier would lower his guard to such a simple tactic. After all if you came to Shibusen then you had to know many more moves or else you would never survive.

[Ishida Sai]

”I am ready to begin. It seems our three minutes are up anyways.”

From that one piece of dialogue, the one-star meister could easily pinpoint the trait of arrogance from him. Something that he is extremely familiar with by now.

In his thoughts, he mused at this, "Well then, let's see if you're right..."

In the midst of his initial movement, Sai noticed the attacks coming towards him. One for his head with the gauntlet weapon with the long straight blade and his legs/arms with his claws. The claws were something that made him grimace at one point. To point out, his sparring partner now has tools to dominate both the longer and shorter ranges. Which obviously meant this sparring would be a lot more difficult than expected.

It is from this point on, Sai was already missing his acupuncture needles, his only form of longer range combat through throwing. Then again, the point of sparring was to get better from just melee combat. And he was here to do just that.

To begin with, this is the first time for him fighting someone as exotic as Aalekh by any means. Yet, it doesn't mean his experiences so far would betray him. After all, facing an entire gang in a narrow street, a crazy Meister who can cancel out Soul Perception, and an autonomous Demon Weapon is much scarier than someone wielding practical weapons with both hands. Yet, this guy is a Shibusen student. This meant he has this higher proficiency in combat found in an average student in comparison to any Average Joe kid.

The soon-to-be ninja leaned his head away to the right, from the initial stabbing attack with the gauntlet-blade weapon. He knew it would initially be used something similar to a fencing stab from its mere appearance. But to his surprise, it was something to conceal the incoming claw attacks. Judging by the speed, it's pretty fast which is further accommodated with his height.

KLAK!

He blocked by moving in, intercepting the claw with the wooden wakizashi. Normally, Sai would immediately move in for a Soul Purge by now... But judging by how everybody sparred and practiced, it seems to be somewhat forbidden to make use of at the moment. Though, even if he was allowed to use it, the meister doesn't have the time to do so when the gauntlet-blade was already lined up for another attack to his arms.

"Tch."

Schrlk!

Disengaging the wakizashi from the claws (which gave a sound from the friction from both weapons), Sai swerved below the arm so as to move to a different angle of attack while dodging the gauntlet-blade. If he loses or is matched against both long and short ranges...

Then his answer was to get even closer, to make it even more awkward for the much taller Indian, utilizing the importance of range and angles for this situation. After accomplishing to move over at Aalekh's left, he swung down the wakizashi at the arm (holding the claws). Hopefully to break away any hopes of a guard from the weapon and then moving in for the kill.

But only the Indian's skill and physical capabilities will answer Sai's call and decide what to do... From the looks of it, this fight may be dragged out for some time.

[aalekh]

This guy wasn’t your average joe, he knew exactly what he was doing. HE dodged the attacks with the Pata expertly but wasn’t expecting it to be concealing the claw movements. This was the upside of carrying two different weapons. You could easily trick enemies into thinking you’re doing one thing but then in reality you would be trying a completely different tactic. Of course Aalekh wasn’t exactly serious right now. It was more of a test of this guy’s reaction time and skill, on a scale of 1-10 he was probably like a 3 which was what most people who had at least had basic training were.

Sai engaged his claws with his wakisazhi before promptly disengaging. IT seemed he was still in the middle of formulating a plan of attack. If he was smart he would try to get even closer but then again Aalekh had a lot of martial arts training so he could easily utilize his elbows if he wanted too. This was going to be a very fun fight if it dragged along long enough. The fighting he was accustomed to wasn’t as intense it was just fight me and if you win you’re good enough.

This time he moved to the left switching up what he was doing. He was thinking in strategy now. It seemed that Aalekh greater physical abilities and the ranges covered made it incredibly hard for him and took his sword and swung at the arm with Aalekhs claw. Aalekh Pata wasn’t going to be able to reach him that far out so instead Aalekh decided to put a little bit more effort into this fight. It was true that his Pata wouldn’t be able to extend that far but he had another secret weapon. His training in martial arts.

Aalekh instead bended his arm so that his elbow was no facing the sword and he brought it down and connected with the sword so he could block it. It wouldn’t have been efficient with an actual sword but this thing was made of wood so it would sting a lot less. They both connected and Aalekh felt some pain but it was easy to not make a face over it. It wasn’t really too much maybe a bruise later on. This move created in opening in which he could take advantage of. Sai was probably expecting the move to put Aalekhs guard down. Instead Aalekh had done the opposite and know he seemed to be the one with the advantage. So he swiveled to the left and swung his fought in arc straight towards Sai’s side. It was a round kick which he learned from a form of Martial arts called Taekwondo.
If the foot connected it might stun him a bit if he wasn’t steeled against pain but if it missed Sai might have another opportunity to attempt to make one of the attacks connect.

[Ishida Sai]

It almost seemed imperative Sai would win this exchange. But he was going to be so wrong. There were a number of factors that he hasn't even taken into consideration from the start.

KLAK!

"Damn! Sai cursed as his stabbing was deflected away with an elbow. "He's got some reflexes."

It is indeed crazy to use an elbow to block a blade. But the elbow is one of the human body's toughest body parts. Training that part is unnecessary from the start. In fact, there are a couple of martial arts that make total use of it in the case of Muay Thai and Baji Quan. It can be used to block kicks to the sides while at the same time damaging the opponent's foot or ankle. In this case, since the weapon is made for practice... Why not?

Aalekh here, was no doubt someone with a bit of everything in physical capability when compared to Sai. Even he had that unmistaken feeling brewing in his being.

In the corner of his eye, the meister saw the Indian swivel his hips. The dire sign of a kick.

"OH SHIT!"

The range and timing were perfect. Almost and pretty damn good for his age. Who the hell taught him? His visual receptors moved over to where a sweeping motion of a leg was going for his side. Gritting his teeth and relaxing his body to endure the pain he would experience from the attack, Sai jumped to his left to attempt to get out right out of range of the attack.

As soon as he lunged out of the way, his body couldn't completely dodge the round house kick.

PAK!

An excruciating pain irritated the Ishida member as he felt bits of the force make impact. Using the force as a spring, Sai further jumped and rolled away outside of Aalekh's range of attack before hastening to get up in his two feet.

The solid feel of leather padding on the floor while rolling was discernable in the duration of his evasive movement. As he got up, the meister couldn't help, but slightly wince from the result.

"Tch..." disapprovingly, he stared at his side.

"He's got the first hit."

Breathing in deeply, Sai pressed a pressure point on his side. Quickly relieving the pain once his standing form is fully erect. There seemed to be no broken ribs at the least since he can still move. For now.

"What to do...?" he pondered to himself examining his options.

They were back to the drawing board with both sides separate from each other again. Now he had a better understanding of what the Indian meister is capable of. He has a better physical body and knowledge of unarmed martial arts in tandem with the skill using the weapons he holds. And for Sai? Acupuncture, tankenjutsu (short sword techniques), taijutsu coupled with other martial arts, and a variety of Japanese weapon arts. But this situation immediately kicks out the knowledge of a variety of weapon arts from the get-go.

What are his options? To just charge in? That would be obvious and a bit risky too. Unless----

Sai rushed in almost seemingly reckless like a behemoth hurtling itself at a horde of enemies. He waited for whatever attacks Aalekh would dish out at him. And if he did, the meister immediately dropped down, sliding towards the Indian like a baseball player sliding towards home base. Getting close enough, Sai immediately slammed one hand on the leather insulated floor and brought up his leg to sweep Aalekh off his feet.

OOC: Could you show me pictures of both weapons so I can have a better idea of them? Mine is practically in my profile.