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Tweak says, "don't touch my no no spot!"

Kadaj (mothersbestson) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-09-05 20:26:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 14, kadaj, xena

Day 14 Duel
Who: Xena and Kadaj
When: Day 14 morning
What: A challenge of swords
Where: Outside between resort and river
Rating: pg
Status: Finished

Waking early and eating alone in his room, Kadaj went out to the balcony afterward. He stared through early mist in the direction of the mountains, sitting still as silence on the railing with his feet hanging down over the grounds below. While the day brightened the mist seemed to retreat far up into the sky. Whispy clouds hung high over the mountains, perhaps even over the desert beyond. He lifted his face into a lightly stirring breeze, closing his eyes while the scents of Mirage teased him. Flowers and plants from the garden -- too sickly sweet, a salt tang from the beach area, drier air from the heights -- all of it seemed fresh and new.

After a moment, he leapt from the railing. Had anyone seen this, they might have thought a piece of sculpture suddenly came to life. He landed lightly, slowing down just before touching ground. What followed was anything but slow. Kadaj ran around the dorm buildings the moment he landed. He ran until he found himself in the middle of a large expanse of grass. The resort waited on his right while to his left a river flowed.

"Show yourself, Mirage!" he yelled without warning, brandishing his double-bladed katana. "I want to meet you!" He twirled around, swinging the sword with a great roar disturbing the clean air. Following a succession of different swings and imaginary blocks, he decided to leap up high high higher until he was well above the scenery, much further up than the roof of the resort. There weren't any ruins of tall city buildings for him to see so it was all too easy spotting the golem-thing that had arrived.

Kadaj landed nimbly. He crouched down immediately and took a low slash at the golem with the pebbled face. The creature had been sent with its own sword so Kadaj exploited his practise partner. Stabbing, thrusting, dodging, he yelled again: "Is this all you sent, Pebbleface? I want to talk... to you... Planet! Not Pebbs!" At least the golem moved better than one might expect so he did get a good workout for an hour, maybe longer.

"Do you give up, Loz? Surrender, Yazoo! At my feet, Pebbs!!" he roared in imaginary combat and suddenly stopped, for a moment frozen like a statue. Kadaj was in a fighting stance, Souba raised high to strike. The golem didn't have to look in the direction of someone watching; Kadaj had already sensed the presence of a real person.

He lowered his sword without sheathing it. Kadaj whirled to observe his observer, who turned out to be another person he hadn't yet met. He bowed his head deeply to greet a woman who commanded immediate respect.

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bravely
2008-09-05 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Rolling out of bed wasn't entirely as easy as it had been during the hurricane. The roaring wind wasn't keeping her just on the verge of sleep and awake. She slept deeply without disturbance. Although that damnable nagging in the pit of her stomach never ceased, it was something she learned to live with. It was like morning sickness, although not quite as localized.

Leaving Gabrielle still sleeping, she rose and readied herself for the day. She donned the familiar leathers and bronze armor, complete with armbands, gauntlets, knee high boots and scabbard. Her chakram and whip were also attached to the hooks at her waist. She'd been getting some good workouts in the last few days, but she hadn't done anything the day before and she was feeling the need to practice.

She wanted to take advantage of the nice weather. The hurricane several days ago was still on her mind, and she didn't want to be indoors if it wasn't necessary. Exiting her room, she headed for the open fields. In the far distance she could barely make out a couple of figures. As she neared, she recognized the familiar build of a golem. The other figure was not as recognizable, though he ought to have been with the white hair.

She could see that he was young, in appearance least ways, and rather short, for a male. She stood some distance away and watched as he fought with the golem. The golem actually defended itself, though it didn't do much in the way of offense. She crossed her arms over her chest and settled in. The young man didn't seem to notice her presence for a while. But when he did, he and the golem stopped sparring to stare.

He bowed his head, and she smiled slightly, bowing in return before she dropped her arms at her sides and stepped forward. "Not bad, kid." She held out her hand to shake his. "My name is Xena."

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mothersbestson
2008-09-06 01:24 am UTC (link)

Kadaj quickly took in details of her ornate breastplate, short leatherstrap skirt and knee-high boots. Adding these impressions to how she moved with fluid power and the way she shook his hand, he smiled at the discovery of a fellow warrior.

"My name is Kadaj," he introduced. His eyes, coloured a light green today in the midst of the field, noticed her eyes of blue, healthy tanned appearance and long black hair. He looked up into the tall woman's face, studying her. She gave off the feeling of a deep soul, someone who had best not be an enemy. People might consider Kadaj not quite right and crazy but he wasn't stupid.

"I'd better be not bad. I was created to fight," he said with quiet confidence. His eyes contained excitement at meeting another seasoned fighter. Even better, one who was more experienced than him. His slit-like pupils rounded a little as another smile passed over his lips. "What kind of sword do you wield?"

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bravely
2008-09-06 12:50 pm UTC (link)

Xena also took the young man's measure. She had seen the way he fought and knew that he was skilled, even if he did have a somewhat feminine appearance. As she gripped his forearm in the warrior's grip she used to greet fellow warriors she smiled again. His own smile evident on his face.

She smirked a little and could tell that he was excited about meeting her. She wasn't exactly sure why, but perhaps, like her, he also found it difficult to find a skilled sword fighter among the resort's inhabitants. Faith was one of the only people she'd met, besides Souji, who could wield a sword with any skill. Of course, she hadn't actually seen Souji wield hi sword, but if he was a samurai, he would have to be good with it.

"Well met, Kadaj." She nodded at his confidence in himself. She wondered at the word choice he used, but attributed it to being trained to fight. She reached behind her and pulled her sword from it's scabbard. She held it out for him to see. "Leaf blade." The blade was double edged, and wider toward the middle, the ends narrowing. The pommel was rounded with mother of pearl set into it and the hilt was tapered bronze. The handle was wrapped with black leather, shiny from use. "And you?"

She glanced down at the sword he still held in his hand. She could see that it was some sort of katana. And she was familiar with katana. She'd seen more than a few of them in Japa when she'd been there. Going up against an army of 20,000 samurai, there was bound to be one or two. Her head had also been lopped off by one, she'd fought for a special one a decade ago and had watched Akemi commit seppuku with it. So one could say she was quite familiar with the weapon.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-07 03:49 pm UTC (link)

His eyes studied the "leaf blade" with hungry fascination, visually devouring this totally new type of sword. Well used and well cared-for, the weapon had undoubtedly spent more time with Xena than any one person had. Simply from seeing it he could tell the balance was different from Souba's. And the pommel topping off the leather-wrapped handle looked strange to him, almost more odd than the shape of the blade. Was it there because the weapon swung in such a way it had to keep the sword from flying out of her hand?

He nodded slightly and presented his own sword with reverence. Souba arced the nonsharp back edge of her blades across his gloved palms. The blades were the same size along their length until they angled up into a point at the tip. Two ribbons, one black and one white, were tied on opposite sides to the square handguard with rounded edges. Black silk cord wrapped the white handle.

"Have you found anyone to spar with?" he wondered in a contented tone as if her presence was the answer to a prayer.

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bravely
2008-09-08 09:48 am UTC (link)

Icy blue eyes caught the subtle shift of his body, the tilt of his head and the way he stared at her sword. This brought a smile to quirked lips before she lowered the blade to her side. She looked his over, nodding approval at the obviously finely crafted blade. "That's a beautiful sword." And it looked as if he took good care of it. That, more than anything, meant that he was a good warrior.

She nodded a little at his question. "A few people." After a momentary pause, in which she surmised that he wished for a sparring partner himself, she continued. "My best friend, Gabrielle, is here with me and she uses sais and a bowstaff. She is a good opponent and even knows how to weild a sword with skill, though it is not a primary weapon for her. I have also been teaching a girl named Katara to use the bowstaff and her friend Toph to use a sword. There is another girl, Faith, who is highly skilled with a sword. And Souji is a samurai, though I have not seen him fight I am sure he is quite skilled." She paused another moment before speaking again.

"I think there are probably more people here that are skilled with weapons, I just haven't met them yet. I take it you haven't found anyone to spar with?" She saw the golem amble away out of the corner of her eye and smirked. Apparently, she was going to get her workout in with the young man in front of her.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-08 08:08 pm UTC (link)

"Thank you," he said after the compliment she gave Souba. That someone like Xena, whom he sensed was a powerful warrior, should admire his sword was better than if she had wasted praise on him. Unless her admiration related to the few things that really mattered to Kadaj.

He listened with interest when she listed the people and weapons. It was nice for her she had her best friend. Perhaps he could also spar with Gabrielle sometime? Amongst the other names, one stood out. His face shifted into an expression of recognition for a moment.

"No, I haven't," Kadaj answered Xena's question first. "There's someone here who said he's a knight and he's got a sword that has some sort of light energy for a blade. I don't think I want to challenge him because he loses his temper so easily he doesn't seem professional." Kadaj didn't say it probably wouldn't be worth killing the Jedi just to find out what the planet might do about it.

His eyes brightened once more: "I've met Katara, the only one from those people you listed."

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bravely
2008-09-10 09:58 am UTC (link)

Xena nodded when Kadaj went on to explain about Anakin and his lightsaber. She wasn't surprised anymore. She'd been here long enough that nothing was really a shock. She'd met people who could weild magic through a stick, vampires that could read minds, men who could time travel, and girls who could control water and earth. She did find it interesting, though, and wondered if anything could withstand a lightsaber.

"Katara is a sweet girl and a very quick learner. It's easy to teach her because she listens and adapts very well." She thought that the idle chatter was getting a little boring, not only for herself, but for the young man who had earlier been sparring with a golem.

"Let's see what you can do." She took a few running steps and then hurled herself into the air. She spun her body into various flips before landing quite a ways away from where she began. Her trilling battlecry died on her lips when her feet touched the ground and she went into a defensive stance. She smiled and beckoned the young man forward with a nod of her head. She loved a good spar, and she hoped he would at least prove to be a challenge.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-10 02:23 pm UTC (link)

Kadaj wasn't surprised to hear Xena's assessment of Katara. When the warrior woman charged into challenge mode and performed her flips, his eyes lit up as he studied her actions. It seemed like she might be a worthy opponent, living up to the promise of her sword and impressive body armour.

His natural reaction was to stand wide-legged for good balance, bending his legs slightly, Souba at the ready. Kadaj would have probably used a direct attack on an enemy but today he followed her happy showing off with his own display of super-human sommersaulting through the air. First he landed further away, then he performed another leap with a flip, half twist, flip and another half twist, coming down lightly only a few steps from her.

Kadaj lunged forward and his sword flashed as he brought it down, curious to experience whether she'd block or evade.

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bravely
2008-09-11 10:40 am UTC (link)

Xena watched his display with a smirk. She had never fancied herself the only one who could do such acrobatics, but most of the people she went up against who could do them were women. When he landed a few feet from her and then lunged forward, blade flashing, she swept her own sword out to deflect the blow.

She countered with her own offensive move, her wrist twisting the blade up and around to cover herself from an attack should he choose to counter. Xena had trained herself mostly, and she looked for sublte movements, and muscle twitches that would signal an oncoming attack or a sudden movement.

She laughed because not only was she having fun, but the clanging of swords ringing in the still air was like music to her ears. She twisted to one side and blocked another blow from behind her back before bringing her sword back around and lunging forward and slamming the blade upward and to the right.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-11 10:59 am UTC (link)

As if finding an actual living warrior (rather than the stone golem) to spar with didn't make him feel completely alive, Xena's hearty laughter made Kadaj realise just how much fun this encounter was. Of course he wouldn't analyse anything right then but the fact was fighting for him had always been what he simply did, and not something to experience for the fun of it.

Her instant reactions, her quick thinking, her ability to match his speed was wonderful! Kadaj acted and tried to anticipate what she might do as he countered her upward swing, not by blocking but by pushed from below with Souba to see if he could make her swirl around. There was much to learn about how she fought and he intended to enjoy every second.

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bravely
2008-09-11 11:37 am UTC (link)

Kadaj seemed to be enjoying the spar as much as she was. And he was doing well at defending himself. His offensive attacks weren't bad, either. She could see that he knew what he was doing, but her years of experience seemed to outweigh his.

Rather than focusing on his attacks, he was watching hers, observing and taking it in. He wanted to learn from her. As his blade came up to knock hers, she shifted slightly and brought the blade down to rest between his rib cage on his chest. She was breathing hard from the exertion, but she was grinning.

Rarely did she smile except in the presence of those she loved, or when she was feeling a little crazy. But the serious warrior didn't often have fun, or fight when it wasn't to the death. That wasn't to say she didn't have a sense of humor, just no one but Gabrielle really got to see it.

She removed the tip of her sword from his chest and flipped backwards, falling into another defensive stance, swinging her sword around in a showy way and waiting for him to make his move.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-11 05:27 pm UTC (link)

Had he been a normal albeit strong fighter, she would have had him - almost. True, she did manage to touch his chest with her sword but he manuevered back several steps before she could have pierced him.

Kadaj had already learned Xena was difficult to tag but he wasn't an easy target either. After all, he had only been killed before by more-or-less being frozen in place. And it hadn't been him in this specific form, it had really been Sephiroth who failed...

He laughed for sheer enjoyment before waving his sword in a specific arc, engaging a trick of the katana's shadow blade. Kadaj seemed to vanish for a second and he appeared right beside Xena, touching her breastplate lightly with Souba. He had used this once to appear behind an enemy and cut them down. But this was play and he was learning. He also suspected she'd know where he was as soon as he reappeared.

Apparently he wasn't winded but that didn't mean the young man never tired. His alien enhancements hardly made him a machine. He stepped back and bowed.

"I knew you were magnificent. More?"

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bravely
2008-09-12 06:48 pm UTC (link)

Xena wouldn't have pierced him, even if she wanted to. It was just a spar. When he disappeared and reappeared next to her, her heightened senses alerted her and she lifted her sword to slide between her breastplate and his katana. The tip of his blade touched her breastplate, but he wouldn't have been able to do much more than that.

Grinning, she watched him step back and bow. She saw that he wasn't breathing hard and wondered what kind of person he was. She knew from her own world and from her time on this one that not everyone was human, and she suspected that Kadaj fell into the category of non-humans.

She could tell that he'd had a good time sparring, and so had she. But when he asked if she wanted to go again, she declined with a shake of her head. If she had been fighting for her life, she would have put more into the fight. But as it was, it had been a sword fight and she hadn't used anything but her sword. And, she'd been going a little easy on him, not knowing exactly how he fought.

They would spar again in the future, she was sure. "I think I should go back and check on my friend. She hasn't been feeling well lately. Thank you for the exercise. I'm sure we'll meet again. Have a good day, Kadaj." She nodded to him and then turned, heading toward the lodging units and growing smaller as she walked further and further away before finally disappearing from view.

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mothersbestson
2008-09-12 09:23 pm UTC (link)

Kadaj gave her a little smile as she took her leave. "Thank you, Xena. I look forward to our next meeting and perhaps I can learn those other weapons you mentioned." Now that would give him something to look forward to, something superior to swordplay alone on the beach or with a golem-thing on the meadow.

"I hope your friend is better," he added, actually meaning it.

Kadaj sheathed Souba and watched the excellent warrior woman vanish from view.

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