Morning workout (Matrim)

[Matrim Gallagher]

Matrim's right forearm intercepted the kick, taking the blow there instead of getting kicked in the goods. She rolled away and got to her feet, Matrim had not left this spot the entire time, but not because he was concentrating his Qi, but because he was seeing what kind of offense she put up. It was OK, but he wondered if she was lacking in improvisation. Losing your footing isn't good in a fight, Matrim could have taken advantage of that. In fact he had thought about catching the kick for a brief moment to apply an ankle lock, but decided not to.

She's fast.... I still don't know how tough she is....

Matrim ducked down and took off at full speed towards her, aiming to run just to her right and his left at last second, his right fist which was balled up would aim to punch her gut, his fist in such a way that the back of his hand was facing the ground. Matrim would stomp down on his left foot so that his right shoulder would be next to her very own. If the attack had connected, if she happened to lurch forward from the punch he would turn his body to face her right side and bring his left elbow down towards her back, between the shoulder blades.

[Emi Hitokata]

Emi didn't hear any groans of pain. In other words, her attack didn't work. She felt her foot hit something, but she assumed that it was his hand or maybe his leg; her head wasn't high enough to see.

Before she had time to recover, he came at her with another attack. She was prepared, but not enough to dodge or use a counterattack. Instead her hands and spread apart in a defensive position, ready to catch any punches or kicks that came at her. If Matrim hadn't moved to the left at the last second, she would have blocked that attack of his. However, both of her hands gripped his right arm and pushed it back a little, making the punch a little less painful. Still, his attack was powerful enough to cause her to lurch forward.

What was more painful what the blow he gave between her shoulder blades. She lowered her head and grimaced, but pride kept her from crying. Her left foot lifted and went down, her heel digging into the front part of her foot.

[Matrim Gallagher]

Matrim stayed where he was, watching her closely as she seemed to be in pain from his attack, which meant that she was tough enough to withstand the attack, but still took a bit of damage from it. Just as he expected, she was faster, that was her advantage in fights. Her attacks were pretty good, but Matrim was very perceptive. She had potential, but this fight would be over soon enough if he went full on. Hell, if he activated his Qi it'd be overkill. So he would go for a kick take down.

Matrim's fist which hand punched her would still be in the area, if not still at the point where he had punched her. Matrim's right foot would move to behind her right ankle, and he would push with his right fist as he slammed the side of his foot towards the back of her right knee, attempting to knock her back so she would fall on her back, which he had just elbowed. If this worked he would hover over her and say, "Do you wish to continue? Or is this all you've got?"

Time to see just what kind of fighter she is....

[Emi Hitokata]

She fell to the ground without a struggle. Her head was lowered, hair covering her eyes. Although she could not see, a part of her knew that Matrim was hovering over her, waiting to see if she would make another move for him to just block. She felt so helpless, and it only took a minute for her to realize the difference in their strengths.

"I..."

She closed her mouth and got onto her knees, keeping her eyes covered. The Japanese girl crawled forward before her right leg suddenly shot out. With her hands on the ground for balance, she attempted to catch the senior by his ankles and cause him to fall to the ground. Even without saying anything her answer was still clear: she'll never give up until she emerges as the victor.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"I..."

Her kick hit his ankles hard but Matrim stood his ground, pushing one leg back for balance. He reached out to grab her right ankle, if he grabbed a hold he would stand up and begin to twist the ankle with both hands as she was on her hands and probably her other leg. He would do this by putting his right arm around the leg with his hand on the toe part of her foot, twisting it inwards, his left hand would push up and forward on the outside of her foot to further twist the ankle if he indeed succeeded in this.

It was a submission move known as the ankle lock. It was one of Kurt Angle's moves. A professional wrestler who also just happened to be an olympic gold medalist. Strangely enough this used to be Matrim's signature move, only the last time he did it, it was to Kate McHallin, and he had been using two broken arms to perform it. It hurt him more then it hurt her, but she gave in after finding out just how stubborn Matrim could be about letting go.

I won't aim to break anything... but a submission move and her giving in is the ideal situation... I won't tell her to give in though. I don't want her to. I want to see her try...

[Emi Hitokata]

ooc: I am so sorry >.< Sucky short post, too >.<

Her move failed yet again. No matter how strong she kicked, Matrim just took the blow without showing any signs of pain. She wondered if there was rock under his skin because she was sure that any of her hits would be able to cause damage to any other guy his age or size. Or maybe he wasn't even human...

Her right ankle went into the air, and she bit her tongue, drawing blood. However, she kept her mouth shut in order to avoid screaming. She could not admit defeat.

However, there was a limit to how long she could stand pain. In other words, she gave up after ten seconds.

"I give up! Stop it," she cried out. She kept her head turned so that Matrim wouldn't be able to see how ashamed she was at her defeat. Especially since she bragged about how she could beat him up easily.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"I give up! Stop it," She cried out, and Matrim did so immediately, slowly dropping her ankle down to the ground and letting her go, not just dropping her but taking care not to cause any unnecessary damage. He wasn't treating her delicately because he thought she was weak or anything, he was doing so out of respect. The truth was one of the greatest things a fighter could do, the thing that took the most courage, was to know when to give up. Sometimes you just had to admit defeat, it was something Matrim himself struggled with but he had to beat it into Sara Quinn that you have to give up at some point. Sometimes it's just no worth it.

She did try, and while Matrim had hoped she could go a bit longer... he had to make due with this. She was determined, but she had a lot of training ahead of her if she wanted to get stronger. "What do you want to do with your life? Do you want to get stronger? Are you a fighter? Because I heard the tone you had about Emily... She's strong. She's beaten me in a fight. So, knowing that she beat me in a fair fight. How does that make you feel?"

Was Matrim getting her angry? He was trying. He had to pump her up in a way because he wanted to take it upon himself to train this girl, to help her get stronger. He owed Ryuu a lot because of what happened to Alex. It was Matrim's fault, if only he had finished off Marquise back at 650... if only he had burned the body after what he did to that guy..... instead he had to finish him off too little too late, killing him after he killed Alex.

I owe Ryuu, and I will train him and make sure that the people he cares about are tough. I will guard them, train them, and that is how I will pay you back Alex. Because I know that you would want your remaining family to be taken care of, just as I would if I had any.....