Thalia Grace (wasatree) wrote in welcomethreads, @ 2013-08-17 12:02:00 |
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While it might have seemed strange to some that the God of Thunder himself would make time for sparring with so much to do, to Thor it made perfect sense. A good spar might have been just what he needed to gather some semblance of normalcy. On Asgard, when Thor had been particularly lost in terms of his decision, sparring had always been something to help him get his thoughts in order and, while Thor had his doubts about how this Thalia would hold up against the likes of his usual partners, she seemed to have enough knowledge of who he was that Thor felt comfortable about her proposal. Of course, her claims of immortality didn't hurt. Thor stood quietly, gazing upward at the local nature with a sense of soothing calm, his hands lightly flexing over the comfort of Mjolnir's leathery hilt. This place, Storybrooke, was strange, even with Thor's limited knowledge of its realm. There were many things here that he found troubling and disturbing, not least of all was the lack of parallel between his Brother's time and his own. Loki's presence was enough to set Thor on edge, but all the evidence pointed to the fact that his Brother was, in fact, being truthful. That, in an of itself, was a strange enough tale in the times to which Thor was accustomed. He wondered, for a brief moment, about Jane and Darcy, and how they were finding themselves settling in here. He also wondered if they were safe but, as he had seen no reason to stress himself on matters to the contrary, Thor put the notion out of his mind. Besides, if it had truly been called for, Mjolnir could see Thor's return to the city proper in no time at all and he would be ready to deal with whatever threat was present. For now, he put his focus on the terrain and the world around him, as it would likely prove to be valuable knowledge in the coming training. In hindsight, challenging Thor to a spar might not have been the wisest thing to do. He was used to dealing with the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk: people who could get Mjolnir in the gut, fly halfway through a room and leave their imprint on concrete and still get up to make a witty quip. Thalia, for all her demigod gifts, would just end up a smear against the wall. Immortality didn't equal invincibility, after all. Then again, Thalia had dealt with monsters much stronger than Thor, the kind that could easily pick her up by her limbs and rip her apart without breaking a sweat. She'd beat those foes before by fighting faster and smarter, and she felt she had a chance against Thor using those tactics. If nothing else, his strength and strategy were similar enough to her enemies that she could use this to keep her skills sharp. She couldn't be out of shape and out of practice when she finally got a chance to go home. If she got a chance to go home. Having spent most of her time since arriving exploring the forest, she found the meeting spot easily. Thor was already there, and she took a moment to take his measure. The dude was big. This was definitely going to be interesting. "Hey," she greeted as she came into speaking distance. "You been waiting long?" Thor turned to greet the face with a bright smile. “I have not, Thalia. I have only just arrived myself.” Thor extended his hand it greeting. “I was honored by your invitation.” Because, in Asgard, when someone offered to train with you, that was a sign of respect. It forged near unbreakable bonds, especially if it were tested in any measure of real battle. “I look forward to the chance for us to pit our skills against one another, though, I do promise, I shall not use the height of my power. It would be unfortunate if one of us were to be injured in an agreement between friends and future allies.” It was a calculated move, if he were to be entirely honest, when Thor had accepted this invitation. He had procrastinated on his meeting with Loki, his brother, while he attempted to gain some understanding of his surroundings and the nature how they had been brought here. Thor was no fool and, despite the stories he had heard, he still considered Loki a threat. Thor knew that he too would need allies, in the unfortunately likely event he and his brother were to clash. Hopefully, by the end of this, Thor would know if he could count Thalia as one of those. “Do you have a preference as to how we continue? A simple test of brawn, a brawl perhaps? Something befitting of stature? I would even volunteer to leave Mjolnir out.” It was a half boast, half forethought. As Thor really had no idea how much punishment she could take, he needed to be careful. Just because Stark or Rogers could take a hit, or because Banner could put up an actual fight, did not mean every super powered being on the planet probably could. After all, he knew Natasha and Clint, despite their gifts were no less vulnerable to the tragedies of war. “And what manner of fighting is it that is most common where you come from?” These seemed, to Thor, to be the best ways to begin. Thalia reached out to accept Thor’s hand. Although her hand was fairly gulfed in his, her handshake was firm and confident. Part of her was still having a hard time believing that she was actually standing there shaking hands with Thor himself, but she managed not refrain from getting too effusive with her fangirlness. That would be totally uncool, after all. “Any test of brawn I’d lose in half a second flat,” she admitted when she stepped back. Size may be deceiving where Thor came from, but Thalia wasn’t nearly as indestructible as most of the people he was used to. She had the speed and reflexes of a demigod, yes, and Artemis had enhanced that even further, as well as giving her a robust health that had put her in good stead over the years, but when it came down to it, she was still in a fifteen year old girl’s body. An enhanced body, but not an invincible one by any means. “I was thinking just a straight up spar,” she said. “First contact wins? No Mjolnir for you, no bows or throwing knives for me.” Thor would have the strength and reach that Thalia didn’t, but she was fast, and she would have her spear. “Your honesty in your ability is an admirable trait among warriors, Thalia.” Thor praised her genuinely. “One who does not know their limits is often more a hazard in battle than an ally.” Which was a lesson that, if he were to tell the whole truth, he hadn’t really learned until just prior to the battle of New York. Loki had drawn out their weaknesses and struck a blow for which none of them had been ready. Not recognizing their own shortcomings had nearly cost The Avengers everything. “You wish to spar then, with no weapons?” Thor considered it for a moment. She was small, which Thor naturally equated to agile, and would likely use that to counter the fact that he dwarfed her in stature. “Very well.” He replied with a genuine smile. “I shall accept the terms of your challenge. Shall we say..” Thor patted his chest. “Any blows that land here will end the spar at once?” Because it would be too easy if they were aiming for legs and arms, honestly. “And I feel it would be wise to avoid any blows to the head. Immortal or not, the intent of this is not to harm one another.” Thor stepped away from her for a moment and dropped his hand comfortably over the leather wrapped handle of Mjolnir’s hilt. He paused, if only for a moment, before picking it up and setting it on the ground beside him. It always felt strange now, not having it at his side. It had been taken from him when he was unworthy and, since earning its return, it was a matter of pride that the weapon remain as close as it could. He removed himself from her by another few paces, before dropping his form into a wrestlers posture. Thor had never been one for grappling, preferring the out an out power of punches, swings, and lightening, but that didn’t mean he didn’t recognize the usefulness of the fighting style. It could easily be used to parry blows away from his body and put him in prime position to land a winning strike. “You may begin when you are ready.” Thor prompted, with a genuinely excited expression. There were few better ways to see just who a person was than to meet them in battle. Landing a hit to the chest would win her the competition? On the bright side, it was a very wide expanse of chest. On the not so bright side, there were equally wide biceps to get through before Thalia could get there. Ah well. Nobody’s ever accused her of not taking risks. And this wasn’t even a huge risk. Sure, she was likely to get pounded to the ground, but it wasn’t an unfair fight. Thor was strong, but she was wily. Somewhere along the way, something would work out. As Thor laid down his hammer, Thalia got to divesting herself of her own weapons: her bow, which magically appeared at her back when she reached for it; her hunting knives, concealed in straps on her legs; her can of mace, which would turn into a spear when she flicked it; and her silver bracelet, which could turn into a shield capable of casting terror in her enemies’ hearts when she called upon her father. It had been a long time since she’d had to fight unarmed like this, but she saw it for the practice opportunity it was. If she ever got disarmed in a fight, she was going to have to know how to defend herself. And defense was what she was going for at the moment. She slowly circled Thor, letting him sit in his own eagerness for battle for a while. Normally demigods weren’t the patient type; their battle reflexes got them too adrenalized to stay still for long. But Thalia had spent several years as a tree. When you’ve been rooted on the spot for most of what should’ve been your developing years, you learned to be patient. She merely waited, trying to see if Thor’s own impatience would lead him to strike out first. Thor actually smiled at her as she began to circle around him and began to follow suit in a counter-direction. “Is this how you fight where you are from?” He questioned in a tone that was nothing short of jovial, with just a hint of laughter. “I would have thought such steps to be much more a dance than that of two warriors.” You did not grow up as Loki’s brother without learning the proper application of a goad and how to spot when to be patient -- Thor just hoped Thalia was not also endowed with the gift of duplicative magic. That trick was nefariously difficult for him to recognize. He kept his arms in a wide stance, swatting ever so often with his superior reach, but keeping his right hand coiled and braced, ready to parry away blows in attempt to create an opening. He had no intention whatsoever of using his full strength, of course, because he frankly had no wish for their friendly challenge to end with any kind of a serious injury. With no healing room, and Thor not even sure how such healing worked here, he reasoned that was doubly bad. Besides, this was supposed to be fun, right? "Nah, usually it involves a monster trying to eat me and me killing it, or me and other demigods strap on some armpit and start hacking at each other," Thalia said lightly, though she didn't take her eyes off him. "Battling a Norse god unarmed is a pretty new thing for me." And speaking battling a Norse god unarmed, that opening he'd created was just too tempting to resist. Thalia knew he was just trying to draw her in, but she wasn't planning to do exactly what he expected. And with luck, she wouldn't get her skull pounded in. She feinted to his right, as if she were going to try taking advantage of the opening, but at the last minute she darted to his other side, keeping low so as to avoid his reach. She was nimble, a fact that delighted him and drew forth a sound of laughter as Thor pivoted in time with her feint to deflect the blow. He was even smiling as he bounded backwards in a series of heavy steps and began the process of circling her again. “Speed is a strength of yours I see.” Thor wound one of his own limbs wide and to the outside. It was as easy blow enough for her to parry away and it wasn’t even designed to provide him with an opening. It was a simple test of her defenses, a measure of her reactions, and not something Thor would have likely done in his younger years. “But misdirection will only take you so far as your opponent is blind.” Thor made a quick instep, this time launching both of his hands forward in a center, precise, strike. It was the type of hit, with his hands open and spread, designed to provide his own torso with maximum protection, while being able to fend off her own defense. Thalia, however, was clearly quick, and Thor was no longer so arrogant to assume that all his plans would work. He kept his hind leg braced, ready to spring himself backwards in defense of her counter-attack. At least she didn’t seem large enough to send him sprawling because, while neither had Stark, Thor really did not wish to go barreling through trees -- least of all so soon after arriving in Storybrooke. "Well, when you don't have strength, you gotta go with what you got," Thalia replied, skittering back several steps to a neutral position once it became clear her attack had failed. In terms of demigods, she wasn't even the fastest. That honor belonged to the Children of Hermes, which made sense since their father was the god of Travellers. Children of Zeus were all about power, which was unfortunate in this instance since Thalia was pretty sure that using lightning would count as using weapons. Counter-attack was the best Thalia could go for at this point, and Thor's lunge gave her a real opening she could exploit. With his momentum going forward, Thalia didn't try to stop it. What she did was lash out against his outstretched arms, hoping to send him off balance so she could follow up with the winning blow if she could get in fast enough. Thor had to admit, he was impressed. Her rebuttal strike had been quicker than even he’d expected and precise enough to cause him to abandon the push he’d been making to end the spar quickly. The blows she sent to his arms were but distractions, but Thor was quickly able to assess that, should he continue, he would be certain to lose. The only thing he could really do was heave his weight off to the side and send himself into a laughing roll of armor and cape. He pushed himself far enough that his toes could find a firm grip in the earth again, keeping his hands in a defensive series of sweeps against his torso, if only to keep her from being able to land any kind of connecting hit while Thor attempted to recollect and rally his defenses. Once he finally returned his feet, hunched and spry, ready to attack or defend as needed, it was quite clear that Thor, the Son of Odin and prince of Asgard, was enjoying himself quite a bit. “Excellent!” Thor replied with a smile, his blond hair now littered with the debris of the forest. “A fine play on your part.” Because what was the point of sparring and training if you were not going to compliment one another and give praise on plans or attacks? “There are many whom I have battled who would not have responded with such confidence.” Though, truth be told, had it been an actual battle, the blows wouldn’t have detoured him from landing his own hit, Thor just had no intention of giving up the spar. "Thanks," Thalia said, pleased by the compliment. She generally liked to be praised in the first place, and to have it coming from Thor himself was even better. "You were pretty good at evading it yourself." He was certainly faster and more nimble than she'd taken him for, though Thalia suspected that he was actually taking it easy on her. That was okay since this was just a spar. In a real, life-threatening fight, she would've already stabbed him in the eye with an arrow. Now it was just a matter if seeing what gambit he was going to use. “It is praise well earned.” Thor replied to both comments at once while his mind continued to ponder over his next approach. Speed seemed to be Thalia’s primary asset which, to Thor, meant one thing. In order to win, he would need to neutralize that asset. If he was really going to do that, there was a sound strategy to which Thor had proven to be true. Legs, after all, were the weaknesses of most things that had them. Bi-pedals in particular seemed to have a unique sense of trouble when their legs were stripped of them and so, Thor decided, that would indeed be his next target. He barely the thought time to finish before his legs were rushing him forward toward her again. His plan was simple: Without Mjolnir, Thor would simply use his weight. He’d rush at her, roll himself into a tumble, and target her legs like a large rock through an advancing company of troops. If the plan worked, and he was able to dislodge her, it would be a relatively simple matter of tossing his hands back in a semi-blind strike against her torso. If it didn’t? Well, Thor was still having fun. Thalia was too competitive to truly have fun when a fight was involved, even when said fight was a simple spar between friendly folks. That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself to some extent, though, and she could certainly appreciate skill when she saw it. She’d known that Thor was going to beat her in straight-up unarmed combat before they started; she just wanted to get a few blows of her own in before it ended. And it almost ended with his latest move. With the kind of mass Thor was packing, he could move fast when he sent it in one direction. Thalia barely managed to see what he was planning and get out of his way in time, and even then, she only managed to jump a few feet away - certainly not out of range. If he wheeled around fast enough, she was hooped. The rumble of earth as his form continued to tumble and roll past her was merely a blip on the radar of his awareness. Thor was battle hardened and tested time and again. In his youth, it had stemmed from an addiction to glory and honor with Thor had pursued with a brash naivety. As he’d grown however, Thor had taken those lessons and practices, and attempted to hone them into a more noble application. This situation here and now was hardly one that lived up to that, but that made the use of his knowledge no less vital. Thor let the momentum of his roll come to a gradual stop, and he quickly sprung to his feet. “You are indeed an agile opponent.” Thor praised her again. It had been some time since he’d engaged an opponent that was more than an outright slug fest. Even his brief battle with Tony Stark had much less to do with agility as much as it did the ability to trade punches. Thor, however, wasn’t about to let himself get tangled in history. “If you seek to tire me, the Son of the Allfather..” Thor let his voice trail for a moment as he rushed her again, this time attempting to use his superior size to outright snare her arms at the wrist. Thor clearly wasn’t going to beat her, even with the element of surprise, but perhaps, if he was able to overpower her defenses, he would be able to finish the spar in a well placed, almost teasing, tap against her midsection. ...which he did. And even a light tap from Thor was enough to send Thalia stumbling back, her arms windmilling to keep her balance. For a moment a narrow-eyed look of determination crossed her face - this was not a fighter who would go down easily - but then reason kicked in, and Thalia gave him a resigned smile. "Okay, you win," she said. "That was really well done." She might not like losing, but she could appreciate a good strike when she saw one. Thor held his hand out to her. “You fought valiantly, and the match was much closer than I would have expected.” Thor meant it as a compliment too. He had expected her to try, because she was brave enough to suggest it, but hadn’t exactly expected quite the run she’d given him. It was the kind of surprised that painted his face in a bright and proud. “You are a fine warrior, Thalia.” Thor reached out to clap her resolutely on the shoulder, as was his custom when dealing with those he respected and felt comfortable with, but was careful enough not to drop the bulk of his muscle into the display. “I thank you for this opportunity, and, from this day forward, you may count me as your ally.” This place was strange and Thor knew he would need allies to see it through, especially with Loki here, but imagined such a desire was not limited to himself. Despite the fact that she’d just lost - something that Thalia never liked doing - she was grinning from ear to ear. Thor had just called her a fine warrior. After all, it was one thing for herself to know that she was kickass; it was quite another to have the God of Thunder tell her so. “I’m glad,” she said, shaking his hand in turn. “And if you need anything, or just want to do another spar or trade stories, just contact me. We can hang out.” “And the same can be said of you, Thalia of Midgard. From this day forth you may call Thor, Son of Odin, an ally.” Thor replied firmly, and why not, she seemed nice enough. She was a fine combatant and, more than that, she fought honorably. She had stayed true to their terms and had met defeat with a resolute sense of enjoyment at the experience. Absolutely, she was someone Thor felt he could trust and would be honored to battle beside. “..and..what do you mean...hang out? Out of what will we hang?” Thor suspected that answer would come later. |