Clarissa's First Fight

Leo pulled his hand, "it's ok I've nearly got my hand bit off by a polar bear, a little nibble doesn't hurt as much," he said smiling, " he tossed the biscuit next to ranger, "if you don't mind i need to go now...i have a lot of work infront of me i hope to see, err, meet you again. see ya," he said walking away.
[Exit]

Yurusu listened to Clarissa speak of how people had, previously, been unwilling to teach her anything but defensive tactics. Following this, the strange boy left as suddenly as he had shown up, as if his presence here had no purpose in the first place. The boy seemed rather confident- he undoubtedly still had the feeling of invincibility that all teenagers held on to.

“It's ok- if Ranger wants to bite me, that's fine. I'll just have to teach him a thing or two about combat, as well.” Yurusu said, with a grin. “Your training starts right now! Come at me with your strongest Earthbending technique- and don't worry about my well-being. I'll be fine. Also, I won't be fighting back, as this is merely a test of your offensive capabilities.”
Yurusu tried as hard as he could to contain his joy- there was a certain joy in teaching, that he had never known before joining the order. In fact, without the guidance of the Spirit King, Yurusu would have, likely, never discovered that joy at all.

He took his massive sword off of his back, stabbing it into the ground, and walking to the side a bit, so his sword would not be damaged.

Clarissa nodded as the boy left and felt a bit relieved. The boy worried her since she couldn't fully tell if he was there to help her or not. Ranger relaxed also as he walked away from them, trusting the bigger man to keep Clarissa safe. Clarissa turned and listened carefully as Yurusu told her about her training. "Very well then." She said as she stood back up and faced where his sword was plunged into the ground. Slamming her foot into the ground, Clarissa noticed at the last minute that her aim was going to be off. Yurusu wasn't near his sword like she expected, and the redirection of her attack weakened it. She sighed as the ground formed a sphere that penetrated the ground and raised up at him. The point stopping just before it hit him, and then crumbling at the point. "I'm sorry, I told you I wasn't very good."

As instructed, Clarissa came at him. Or, more accurately, where he just was. Yurusu stood, confused, for a moment. She had attacked his sword? That made no sense- why would she attack a WEAPON? Moreover, why would she attack a weapon that would never be used against her? She HAD redirected it, but, even as a matter of deception, the attack was impractical. Why not have just moved the ground out from under him, if she wished to perform an indirect attack? It was almost as if she didn't see him there at all....

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It was then that Yurusu got a good look at her eyes- they were colorless. Clarissa was blind. Though, Yurusu didn't want to jump to conclusions. “Er, I apologize for asking, impolite as it might be, but.... are you blind?” Yurusu asked. If she was blind, that would explain her need to redirect her attack. If not, the first aspect of their training would involve watching one's opponent- that was an important facet of combat.

Clarissa stepped back a bit, startled by his response. She had assumed that he knew like everyone else in the village, but she just looked up at him. "I thought you knew." She let herself open up to him a bit. He was her teacher after all, he deserved to know. "This is why no one wants to train me to attack others. They don't think that I can see where the attacker is. So I learned how to build myself a wall or a tent to hide under." Clarissa almost whispered as she spoke to Kessho. She wasn't sure if she could look at him after that attack. With as worthless as it was.

Clarissa's tone was meek, and her body language gave off a sad aura- she had, completely and utterly, given up hope. Yurusu stroked his chin for a minute, thinking. “Ever heard of a someone named Toph Bei Fong?” Yurusu asked. “She's considered the best Earthbender the world's ever seen, and she lived seven hundred years ago. No one's been able to top her skill, in SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS. The most remembered thing about her? She was blind, but, somehow, her skills couldn't be topped in nearly a millennium. You said that people won't teach you, because you can't see where your opponent is- you don't need to. Instead, I'll teach you to fight like Toph did.

Focus on the bottoms of your feet.” Yurusu said, having seen the cut-out soles of Clarissa's shoes while she had been sitting down. He began to walk around Clarissa, in a circle. “Don't use your ears. Ignore your other senses- just focus on your feet. See if you can feel where I am, and hit me with an attack.”

While walking, he took his sword out of the ground, putting it back on his back, and adding extra weight to his footsteps. With all that weight and muscle walking around, even someone who wasn't thinking about it could, likely, feel him walking. Even so, it was a good way to start.

Clarissa listened intently, focusing on each of his words as he spoke of Toph. She had heard the name from a few stories in her history lessons, but didn't know that much about the woman. "I know she was one of the warriors that helped Avatar Aang during the Hundred Year War, but I didn't know she was blind. At least, the history books never said anything about it." Clarissa's interest in the knowledge peaked as Yurusu explained the lesson to her. With a nod, she started changed her focus on his steps. The ground was hardened where they were training and it was easier than normal to sense the vibrations around her. She could almost tell exactly which direction his next step was going to be when he added the weight of the sword. Judging the time and distance carefully, Clarissa stopped at the ground and pushed a spike out at him. She had aimed for the spike to pierce his shoulder, but put to much energy behind her attack and it extended up farther until it almost reached for his head. "Don't hurt him.. Don't hurt him." She muttered to herself as she waited to hear his reaction.

Yurusu walked in circles around Clarissa, the air tense. Finally, she kicked the ground with her foot, projecting her chi into the earth, and causing an earth spike to come up at Yurusu. His response was automatic- he twisted his right foot sharply, causing a slab of earth to come up, between him and the spike. Due to his quick response, and lack of preparation, the slab was rather thin- just thin enough to stop the spike, but, had she actually wanted to hurt him, he would be left wide open for a counterattack. Granted, he would have been much more prepared, had he expected a spike. His eyes had been scanning the area for projectiles, but he had not thought that she would be able to calculate speed and distance, being blind.

He laughed heartily, and sincerely. He couldn't help but feel the rush of joy, that came from “I taught her that”. “That was amazing- you caught me completely off guard!” He said. “And, it looks like my lesson was a bit too easy for you. Let's make it a bit harder, shall we? I'm going to dampen the sound and vibrations around you- count to 10, and then attack me.”

Saying that, he formed an earthen box around Clarissa. Nothing too solid- just enough to block out sound, and absorb a few of the vibrations (though, not too much). Should she have problems with being in a small box, she could very easily break through it.

He began to walk around her in circles yet again, tiptoe-ing to make less noise (though, with his sword on, he still gave quite the vibration off). He had high hopes for this one.

Clarissa smiled as she watched her spike nearly strike it's target. A small bit of pride for getting the lesson right sparked in her, wanting her to get every lesson right after that. She nodded as Sensi Kessho moved around her, explaining the new lesson. She felt the earth around her rising and knew he was doing it. She was totally encased in the box, with only a few sound waves going through. Still, when she focused hard enough, she could tell where his steps where. They were tiny compaired to the steps from before, and harder to judge direction. "One...Two...Three...Four..." She started to count, using his steps as a measurement for each number. With each step, she would count the next number out and getting ready to attack him. "Nine...Ten."

With a hard stomp on the ground, Clarissa dropped the box around her. Swiftly, she swung her free foot around her and used her momentum to pull a block of earth out toward him. She kept her movements fluid and almost delicate as she worked. Taking a deep breath, Clarissa threw a nice chunk of earth at him, aiming for the sword. She couldn't be sure if they all would hit, but was almost betting on his location.

(Bump: TSUMI...)