lifeaftr | Let's Train in 100 Times Gravity

Entry tags:

Let's Train in 100 Times Gravity

Who: Anyone who wants to come by! Tag in, thread with Yuka, thread with each other, whatever you want.
What: Combat training/practice.
When: Sunset, each night for a week minimum.
Where: East end of Islet 1.
Warnings: Possible blood if things get out of hand, implied 80s training montage songs

Yuka chose this location because the ground was level, there was enough space for people to move around, and nobody was really using it for anything else. No wild beasts, no fish people to disturb, no strange psychological effects... the ideal place for people to gather for an hour or two and get some good-natured fighting in. The snow on the ground wasn't ideal, she supposed, but that stuff was everywhere, so they'd just have to make do. It'd probably be snowing during the invasion, anyway.

Each evening, as the sun inched towards the horizon, Yuka set her other tasks aside to come out and wait. Jug of wassail sitting at the edge of the space, bundled in warm clothes and scarves, Yuka paced, wondering if this was really going to be worth the time. Are there people willing to spend that much time to train others when there's so much else that needs doing? Can someone even learn enough to make a difference in this little time? For that matter, are these shadow monsters something you can even fight with your fists? If nothing else, it would be good to do some physical activity in just to get her mind to stop going in circles.

For those who arrived early, there would be less to do, but even just talking through what different fighting skills people had would be useful for later on. Once more people arrived, those who use similar weapons could work together, and those with more combat experience could work with those with less. Or, people who know each other or are curious about each other's abilities could seek each other out for a sparring match.

So: Fight, teach, learn, take breaks, drink, chat. Bring your own wassail if you can - Yuka's can only stretch so far.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It takes Gobbet a couple of days to hear about the training, being on Chol and busy with preparations. She's deep into helping Munin with a few traps and scouting out new ambush points, but this is something she makes time for once she catches wind. After all, melee has never been her specialty. It's always been guns and spells for her.]

[So you can find her practicing with a new weapon each of the three days she visits Islet 1.]

i. Tidepool Sickle

[The ork steps down onto the beach with a bizarre weapon in hand. She's been watching the Jormun train with these, so she has an idea of what to do, but it's obvious she's out of her element when she takes the first swing. It's a two-handed, clumsy swipe at nothingness accompanied by a little stumble. Heat creeps into her cheeks as she realizes how stupid she must have just looked.]

[Help a girl out?]

ii. Schlacknorkcvic

[Gobbet holds in her hands a long, blunted staff, much like the sickle she was practicing with the day before in theme and appearance. The weight feels good in her hands, like she can really do some cool tricks if she gets the hang of it. She sets her feet as firmly as one can in the sand and tries a few different stances in an attempt to figure out what feels best.]

[You can find her cycling through her chosen stances - or striking poses with a cool stick, to the untrained eye.]

iii. Schlaknorkovn

[The last day she shows up a bit early. This weapon is her favorite of the three that she's been given and truth be told she really wants to turn it into her primary. It's a spear, the head boasting wicked teeth and jagged shards of coral. It, too, resembles the watery weapon of day one. The Jormun have been generous in fulfilling her request for weaponry, it seems.]

[Gobbet can be found jabbing enthusiastically at the air, piercing an unseen target in seemingly strategic locations. Her strikes "land" about the chest and knees of her victim, alternating between the intent to kill and disable. She's clearly light on her feet and the training from days prior carries over into how she holds and handles the weapon overall.]

[If you happen to approach, you'll receive an eager question:]

Hey, can you stand still for a sec? I wanna see if I'm hitting the right places.

[It's always awkward to run into someone after an altercation, especially one based on being fundamentally ideologically opposed. Despite the heated conversation in the form of a dream, rooted in a memory both intensely personal and intensely painful, he knows better than to leave it at that.]

[Especially given what's approaching.]

[He watches from a distance for a time before finally shuffling closer, nodding at the peculiar weapon in her hands.]

'S a hell of a thing.

[Gobbet catches Tim's approach from the corner of her eye, but doesn't stop her practice swings. It's only when he gets close enough to comment that she turns to face him with a half smile, lowering the weapon to avoid looking hostile.]

[After all, she's not particularly upset with him. Although she didn't realize it on the first night, having time to think about the incident (and she has, it's bothered her since the moment it ended) has made her realize that no matter what her opinions were, they probably weren't wanted right after being forced to relive a painful memory in vivid detail.]

[She realizes this, but still wouldn't have done it all that differently if given another chance. She would have asked more questions, maybe.]

Isn't it, though? Munin gave it to me to replace that stick I was using. They grow these things.

[She won't mention it if you don't.]

[Usually, he's something of a champion of not talking about shit. That's kinda what he excels at. Talking about shit is what gets him conversations like their last one. All told, it's probably easiest for both of them if they just pretend it never happened, huh?]

[A pity that he's learned, since the first time a thing like this went down.]

You've talked to her?

[...in a minute. He'll get to it in a minute.]

Oh yeah.

[Talked to her extensively, actually. Been trading ideas about how, when, and where to arrange things to make advancement as arduous and painful as possible for the invading forces. Small walls, concealed spike traps, ambush points. Routes to reach those ambush points in relative safety so that they could take the fight in shifts. They've been some very fruitful conversations.]

[Gobbet puts a hand on her hip, considering how best to describe her interactions with Munin.]

She's not as scary as she looks. Don't get me wrong, you don't want to be on the wrong end of her weapon, but she's not so different from us at heart.

[But that's probably not what you came to talk about.]

That's...good to hear.

[He's approaching all of this too cautiously, too nervously. Is it as obvious to her as it is to him, that he has no idea how to go about patching something like this on the eve of what promises to be a genuine struggle in which they might not all make it out?]

[Does it matter if they don't all make it out? Won't they all come back, anyway?]

So you're...pretty good with fighting with stuff like that. Yeah?

[Gobbet laughs at the suggestion that she knows what she's doing. She shakes her head, hefting the weapon just to show how obviously incorrect her grip is.]

Oh fuck no, I think I had a pocket knife once and that's as close as I've come to melee combat. I had a gun and spells at my disposal. Strictly ranged.

[She can see it on Tim's face, hear it in his voice. The tension is getting to her, too. Things are just easier when they're out in the open. All this mystery and dancing around the subject...it just makes her antsy.]

[The problem is that she told herself she'd let him talk to her on his own time, if he ever wanted to talk to her again. But then that's what he's trying to do, isn't it? So shouldn't she respond accordingly? It's pure impatience, but she offers a crooked smile and a joke as a show of good will.]

I think I'm about as awkward with this thing as the conversation we're not having.

[Funny. He could almost say the same. He's got plenty of weapons on him, sure, but he doesn't know a thing about actually using them, other just simply trying to hit something with them until the thing stops moving. He hasn't killed nearly enough to be any good at it, but simultaneously, they both know he's killed too much.]

[It might've been spoken in good humor, but he winces nonetheless.]

Okay, I - had that one coming, I guess. Figure we might as well get this outta the way before we're all fighting...shadow things, or whatever.

Alright, then. What's up?

[Gobbet's tone is light and even, no trace of bitterness or anger. She doesn't have to work hard to make it sound genuine: again, really not all that upset. But it's embarrassing, isn't it? By disagreeing with her philosophy, he was disagreeing with her as a person and she'd been offended at the time. And in her frustration she failed to understand pretty much anything about his end of the situation. So she was at least partially in the wrong. And that's embarrassing.]

[She sets the weapon down against her knapsack (which is...wriggling) nearby and fishes out her jug of wassail. It's cold out here and her armor is sleeveless, after all. It's definitely not a clever ploy to avoid eye contact.]

[She's gonna make him start it out. Figures she would. It's his fault, right? He's the one that decided to soak the bridge in kerosene and flick the lit match across the gap between them, a solemn dare for her to light it up herself. Is it any surprise that she'd elect to do exactly that?]

[It was all but the expectation he'd pinned on her.]

[So just...start simple. Start small.]

The shit I said. That wasn't...you didn't deserve that. Doesn't matter if we don't agree. Wasn't called for.

Eh, it wasn't that bad, to be honest. Apology accepted, though.

[She takes a little sip of wassail, feeling the warmth travel through her body, all the way down to her chilled fingertips.]

[Gobbet has never been a fan of sincerity. It makes you too vulnerable, exposes too many squishy spots in your psyche. But she's done some thinking. Tim needs help, and she might be the person to get through to him. He needs someone who is as opposite as can be, to balance him out. He's too far to one side of the scale. Arguably, she's too far on the other side, too.]

I shouldn't have pressed as hard as I did, either. I didn't understand and did a lot of talking without trying to understand. That was a dick move, especially after what you had to go through that night.

'S more complicated than that. You weren't...wrong.

[He can't in good conscience say that she was wrong, when he knows what it's like to be up against a wall. Back to the wall, and knowing that it's not just you or him - it's either you let him gut you here and now, and risk the one person whose life you saved, or you fight back and make sure that she stays safe.]

[It's what she deserved.]

[It's what Jay fought so damn hard for.]

That memory, that - that whole thing you saw, it wasn't the only corner I've ever been backed into. Just maybe the most personal one.

[Gobbet stands up, takes a deep breath. It's hard to admit you were in the wrong.]

[And she was - even if she was technically right, it was the wrong time to push like she did. She forgets, sometimes, that not everyone has shut out the pain like she has. Not everyone is tactically numb to their actions and the resulting consequences. Some people still have regrets that they cling to. Not everyone has had the chance to become as hardened to it as she has.]

I didn't listen last time, so talk to me now. I'm listening.

[She'll try.]

[Tread carefully. Tread - don't fuck this up, goddamn you, after she's trying real damn hard to be careful. Just be careful.]

I haven't...I'm not a fighter. [That much, he's pretty sure, should be obvious, pairing it with a meek little shrug of his shoulders.] I don't want to be, but I've kind of up having to be. Don't like it much. Not very good at it, either. And I guess, that whole thing that you saw is kinda...proof of that.

[Thank god she didn't see the why. That's all he's gotta be thankful for.]

[I mean you got the job done, didn't you?]

[...don't say that.]

[You're here to understand the situation and see what comes of it. Don't blow it, and don't just bury your discomfort in jokes.]

When you say you're not a fighter, you don't mean that strictly physically, do you? You mean you're just not the "fighting back" type overall?

[A soft huff of air. How'd she guess, right?]

Not generally, no. Just never really grew up that way.

[Sit down, shut up, and listen to the doctors, the bigger and smarter adults who no doubt know what they're doing, who'll figure you out, who'll figure you out and make you better. Just trust them, trust that, and maybe you'll have a shot at something normal.]

[It'll go so much faster, and so much easier, if you just listen.]

[Gobbet frowns and her brows knit together. She's tried to block out most of the memories regarding the cave and crystals and everything that happened for those few days. But she remembers enough to know that Tim fought for his life that day. If it had come down to facing the creatures head on, maybe it would be a different story.]

[But...]

Why did you follow me that day in the caves, Tim?

[It isn’t really a bad question. Honestly, it makes sense that she’d ask his instinct for self-preservation might far surpass his devotion to it, but that hasn’t exactly been unwavering since he woke here. Short-term endurance for long-term net loss. It’s a flawed ideal, but it’s his.]

[More or less.]

‘Cause I got some people I’m looking out for.

I guess what I'm not getting is why you can't - or won't - just live for your sake.

Gobbet ota!

i. because i love death and dying

what a coincIDENCE

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