#sparring | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

unoislazy · 5 months

Text

I lied to all of you, Hiccup later, Mizu now!

Spar With Me

Mizu x Reader

Disclaimer; Possible spoilers.

Mizu will be referred to as “he/him” since the reader won’t know her secret at this point in time.

I can’t guarantee this will be completely in character, I’m still learning more about the characters so bear with me.

Part Two

Part Three

————————————————————

You had been traveling alongside Mizu and Ringo for a fair amount of time. You had been haphazardly picked up along the way, very much to Mizu’s dismay. The only reason you were allowed to tag along was your fighting skills. Your skills were no wear near Mizu’s level, not many people would be, but you were able to do enough that if the need arose, you’d be able to form some sort of protection for yourself and possibly Ringo.

But you wanted to learn more.

You didn’t want to do like Ringo and become a Samurai, it should be clear to anyone that Mizu was not a samurai, you wanted to learn how to fight. Throughout your travels with the two you watched how the man practically danced with a sword, the elegance as he leapt through the air and sliced up men with ease. The sword seems to be a sort of extension of him, of his arm, or his heart. When he wielded the sword it was like they were connected more than just physically.

You didn’t understand it well but you wanted to learn.

You had your reasons for wanting to fight. You didn’t want to learn in the name of tyranny or even greed, you wanted to learn to prevent a situation from happening ever again.

When you were younger, you certainly weren’t the most popular kid in your village. You never truly did much to attract attention so people often never really batted an eye to your presence. However, that meant no one truly noticed when you would walk around with several visible injuries some days after being picked on by some of the other village kids.

They didn’t pick on you for any other reason than they were bored and they knew they wouldn’t face any consequences if they went after you.

And they were right.

You tried your hardest to fight back but they were always a step ahead of you. So from then on you knew you wanted to learn how to fight, if not to protect yourself then maybe to have the hopes of one day protecting someone else.

You all continued to travel in complete silence, the snow lightly crunching beneath yours and Mizu’s feet. The only thing giving away Ringo's position was the bell that was wrapped around his foot. You looked down at his bell and smiled, it was almost like putting a collar on a pet, it was kind of funny to you. Ringo turned to you, noticing you looking at the bell and he excitedly smiled.

“Do you like it? Master gave it to me, he says I’m too sneaky so now he knows where I am at all times!” He loudly exclaimed, you think he was trying to whisper but he was obviously doing horribly at it. Mizu, who was walking a few steps ahead of you two, gave you a slight glance over the shoulder. You didn’t really notice as you were still smiling at Ringo, you enjoyed his ever optimistic demeanor on everything, it was so different from everyone else’s dreary lives and it gave you a reason to smile.

Ringo leaned over to you, trying his best to lower his voice but he still said everything quite loud.

“Maybe master will give you one too! That way we can both be sneaky apprentices.” He whispered, causing you to burst out laughing.

“Me? Get a bell?” You laughed before continuing, “I’m not going to call the man my master, I have no reason to.” You stated pretty plainly, which obviously confused Ringo.

“You want to learn how to fight, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“And you want to learn from Mizu, right?”

You nodded your head agreeing with him before realizing what he was getting at.

“So then Mizu is your master!”

“Woah, no way.” You argued, now crossing your arms with your head raised high.

You had your issues with calling some man your master. Especially one that barely gave you the time of day. Plus, if it wasn’t for your persistence and Ringo's persuasion, he would’ve left you on that street corner where he found you.

But he didn’t.

He instead let you travel along like a stray dog, following him around on his dark mission that you felt no need to ask about. You had talked to him maybe a handful of times before but he clearly didn’t want to give you the idea that he wanted you around. You were welcomed here, but with very cold and rigid arms instead of nice warm ones.

You might’ve been following him like a stray dog but you’re no pet.

And so you refuse to get that stupid bell.

“Why don’t you want to be Masters apprentice? I’d say it’s very fun, I get to do stuff for him all the time!” Ringo said, it was obvious he was trying to persuade you in some way.

“Well my friend, I think that position is occupied, number one. And number two, I want to learn how to fight, that’s it. I don’t want to learn the ins and outs of being a samurai. I’m simply hoping Mizu will teach me, as a friend.” You explained, it seemed this finally clicked with Ringo, but then you watched as his face contorted into more confusion by your answer.

Before he could ask, Mizu abruptly turned to the both of you and simply stated,

“It’s getting late, we should rest here.”

You both nodded as Mizu walked off in some random direction with Ringo following him. You however, took a moment to just stare at the already dark night sky. You hadn’t realized just how long you had been traveling, and you were a bit peeved that you had missed seeing the sunset. Although it’s not like you would’ve really been able to see it anyways, you were currently deep into a forest, surrounded by hundreds of trees with no clear direction in any which way.

Speaking of not knowing your direction, you quickly looked back down and spotted Ringo, quickly following after him as to not get left behind. If they had left you you would’ve been screwed, you have no idea where you are, or how to get out of the forest, not to mention there’s usually many dangers in the woods that you’re not yet prepared to deal with.

It didn’t take long for a fire to get set up and for Ringo to start cooking. He might not have made the world's best soba, but you’d argue it was pretty high up there. You and Mizu sat quietly by the fire, not really saying a word to each other as you stared at the scorching flames before you.

You wanted to ask if you could try training, while you’re both not doing anything, you wanted to try.

But you were almost afraid of Mizu. His stoic demeanor often sent shivers down your spine especially when he had such a stern tone of voice.

Well it’s now or never.

“Hey Mizu?” You began. You could see him just barely out of your peripheral vision. He turned his head ever so slightly to look at you, but you didn’t want to look back as you continued,

“Before Ringo finishes the food, would you mind sparring with me?” You asked. Mizu stared at you for a moment before looking back to the tree he had been looking at before. Maybe he was thinking about his answer?

Your eyes slowly crept over to look at him from the side. He didn’t really make a move to give you an answer, he simply sat there, thinking.

“It can double as extra training for you. Obviously not to your level, but you can use me as a warm up.” You persisted, now fully looking at him. You stared at him for a moment, he was probably in the most relaxed position you ever have, or ever would see him in. He rested one of his arms on his knee with his back against the tree trunk that lay behind himself. His dark hair was in its usual top knot and his glasses remained on and pushed up.

You didn’t know why he wore those glasses, you had never seen him take them off, and you had never seen behind them. Maybe he just really enjoyed wearing them, maybe a family heirloom?

Well, from what you knew about the man, his family definitely wasn’t something he’d want to honor with an heirloom. Plus, they seemed more of a newer style of glasses so there goes that idea.

After staring for what was in reality, maybe ten seconds, you looked away. If he wasn’t going to train you then who was, why were you even here if he wasn’t going to give you a chance. Were you seriously just along to be Ringo's makeshift bodyguard? Seriou-

“Fine, get up.”

You looked confused, being snapped out of your thoughts so abruptly had you thinking you completely made up what you thought you just heard.

“Do you want to learn or not?” Mizu asked, now standing before you, looking down at you as he waited for your answer. You nodded eagerly, quickly standing up and following Mizu just a little ways away from the fire.

It wasn’t like the forest was pitch black, you could still see thanks to the bright moonlight, it was just a little bit harder.

Mizu stopped in a little open area, just enough room for a fight to take place. You looked back, seeing that the fire wasn’t too far but It was enough that you couldn’t exactly see what Ringo was doing because of the trees that blocked your vision.

You stood a little ways away from Mizu, getting into a fighting stance, unarmed. You knew how to use a katana and naginata very loosely, but you wanted to just start with hand to hand. You knew Mizu could easily kill you if he wanted to regardless of what the fighting style was, but you trusted him even the slightest bit to not commit to ending your life.

Now you both stood quietly before each other. Both in fighting positions as you waited for the other one to move. If you were to attack first you were far enough away to give Mizu time to counter you. If Mizu attacked first, you might have time to counter or dodge but you weren’t going to get very far.

So, without another thought, you charged at Mizu. He waited for a moment before doing the same, and just as you were about to swing, he threw snow right in your face.

“Hey!” You shouted, wiping the snow out of your eyes before looking up and seeing Mizu sending a punch right for your face. You successfully dodged underneath and swung your leg to send Mizu off balance.

“You must be ready to use all the elements to your advantage.” He instructed, easily jumping out of the way of your kick and backing away. You quickly got up, dodging another one of his kicks before going in for a punch. You sent too much momentum into it which left you way too open and vulnerable leading Mizu to easily knock you off balance.

It was clear he wasn’t going to hurt you, just humiliate you for your lack of understanding of how to fight.

You fell to the ground, looking up at Mizu who was just staring at you, waiting for you to make your next move.

You two continued to fight for some time and you honestly could have sworn that you saw him smile a few times. Sure it might’ve been at your expense but you still felt proud enough to achieve such a feat.

You were slowly but surely getting the hang of it as you went.

Or so you thought.

You had gotten yourself into a position where you had a full plan of attack, but it seemed like Mizu was already eight steps ahead of you because with one simple move, he had knocked you down, now pinning you to the cold and snowy ground.

You struggled beneath his grip, trying to find a way out to attack but it was no use. He was indeed a lot stronger than you.

“Stop fussing, you lost.” He stated with what you could have sworn was a teasing smile. Fighting really brought out a different person in Mizu and honestly you didn’t mind it. It felt as if you two had finally started to get to know each other, even if it was just through a series of dodges and snarky remarks. It took you a few moments to realize he was actually straddling you, very tightly one might add. His hands were firmly holding down your hands and it was clear he was not going to budge.

You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by the current situation you were in. It was nothing short of humiliating to practically beg to fight someone only to wind up underneath them, but you also couldn’t help but admit you also felt embarrassed for other reasons.

You looked up at him, and it was just then you noticed that his glasses had fallen off. You didn’t know when, you didn’t know where, all you knew was now you were staring at a pair of bright blue eyes that seemed to be watching you in amusement.

He watched as your face changed from a sour expression to one of confusion,

“What’s wrong, can’t handle losing?” He teased, nearing you ever so slightly.

That was until you muttered,

“Your… eyes.”

With those two words, Mizu’s amused expression dropped suddenly and he jumped off of you and faced away in a matter of seconds. He quickly grabbed his glasses that had gotten thrown off during one of his many expert maneuvers.

You sat up, now staring at the back of the makeshift samurai who didn’t utter another word.

You had heard stories of ‘the demon eyes’ when you were a kid, everyone did. You might’ve believed those stories when you were younger but here stands someone with those ‘demon eyes’ and you saw nothing more than just a very scarred individual. Sure, Mizu was scary good at wielding weapons, but that wasn’t some demonic power, that was pure skill, and you admired him for it endlessly despite never wanting to admit that outloud.

You both sat in silence, you leaning on your hands and Mizu, sitting with his legs crossed and his back towards you. After a moment of just sitting you took a breath in, as you did so you noticed Mizu’s head lower ever so slightly as if he was preparing to hear or feel something he had heard before.

Your eyes softened as you stated,

“Your eyes… they’re very pretty.” You complimented. You could see Mizu freeze for a moment as you stood up, walking just up behind him.

You couldn’t imagine the amount of stuff he had gone through throughout his life, having to deal with people treating him differently for something he couldn’t control. You didn’t need his whole life story to know it was probably rough. It didn’t take a genius to know that considering where you are, sitting in the middle of the woods as the man before you continued to try to track down certain people for a reason unbeknownst to you.

Mizu continued to sit in silence as you kneeled down just behind him, you reached out your arm to touch his shoulder but you hesitated for a moment. Maybe you shouldn’t, maybe you should just leave him alone, it’s clear he is not comfortable.

You just wanted to show him some kind of comfort, even if it was just in the sense of one little shoulder touch, so that’s what you did. Your hand ever so gently rested on his shoulder before you quietly muttered,

“I mean it.”

Mizu’s head ever so slightly turned towards your direction, but before he could say or do anything you took your hand off of him and quickly stood up, quietly rushing back to Ringo who was still carefully preparing your food.

It was only a few more minutes before Mizu followed behind you, making his way towards the fire. Neither of you mentioned what had just happened and you continued to sit in silence just as you had done before. It was as if all the progress you had made to getting to know him while fighting, had gone down the drain.

Until you heard him quietly mutter,

“Thank you.”

#mizu x reader #mizu blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai #blue #blue eyes #x reader #x gn reader #netflix #idk how to tag this #i love her #my wife #fanfic #fanfics #fanfiction #blue eye samurai fanfic #blue eye samurai x reader #ringo blue eye samurai #sparring #unoislazy

688 notes · View notes

howtofightwrite · 1 month

Note

Is it possible for a character who is 18cm shorter and not as muscled as their opponent to pin said opponent to the ground in a few calculated moves? Both characters are fit and exercise regularly, but the shorter character has trained in various martial arts (with and without weapons) and the taller one is more proficient in sword duelling. My intent is to write a sparring scene where the shorter character humbles the (overconfident) taller one. Any specific martial arts I should look at?

So... being shorter doesn't matter. In fact, in this situation, it is an advantage.

I'm going to point out here that if you're not careful, your character that you want to have a badass moment is going to look like an complete asshole because they are humiliating another character who they actually are better than. If they haven't been trading off humiliations to build tension (safely so no one gets hurt) then you're going to have a lopsided “sparring” session. Or, you will, if you haven't been building up your narrative to support the humbling. (And there is a lot that goes into these scenes to make them work, which, if you're not familiar with how martial arts training works then you'll approach it from the wrong mindset and hit Starke's pet peeve.)

Let's hit the ground running with the high points:

Sparring is not dueling.

Sparring is not play fighting.

Sparring is not so you can humiliate your opponent.

Sparring is not about fighting anyone or anything.

Sparring is a training exercise so that both of you can work on improving specific techniques.

Do people in real life get carried away sparring? Yes, they do. Are they complete competitive idiots about it? Yes, they are. Do they get punished for it? Absolutely, they do. This is especially true where they'll be expected to put their lives on the line. Treating violence like a game is detrimental, and leaves the trainee ill-prepared for dealing with real danger when in the field. Make no mistake, that is exactly the mindset you are describing in this question. Your characters (at least your minor ones, the trainers in this situation if your leads are too young or too dumb to comprehend their reality) should care about stomping this attitude out. And you as the author should to. Why? Because if you don't take the violence in your narrative seriously neither will your audience.

There are rules, as a writer it's imperative you establish the rules (and there no rules means you haven't established them for violence in your setting and therefore won't be able to establish the baseline that can be built upon later) and one of the rules is that you're not going to spar someone with a weapon (wood or otherwise) unless you both have weapons. There's not a lot of value in having one character spar with a weapon and one spar without one unless it's a knife, and the point is learning the dangers of knife fighting. And knives make sense because they are in the same distance range as fists. Swords are in a completely separate distance category. They are mid-range weapons.

You don't practice disarms by sparring, you practice disarms by practicing disarms in a controlled setting where you're repeating the motion over and over. Can you humiliate a person by being good at practice disarms? Yes. You do it by being a complete dick. It also requires the character in question to be better at the moves in question than the other character performing them because they need to be able to confidently, or at least believe they can, counter the other person's growing anger while taking the move a step further or two than they're supposed to. It also means they can get away with it without arousing the suspicions of their instructor (or act with their instructors approval) and no one gets hurt. (We hope.) For a character to do this is a sign of overconfidence, FYI. As is trying to humiliate someone in a sparring session. The characters that are good enough? They don't do it.

In fiction, good sparring scenes serve one real purpose. They establish a baseline of skill in safe setting so the audience becomes comfortable only for that to be disrupted and thrown into chaos when the characters encounter real violence. There's two paths for this. Either the character is a big winner only to be brutally beaten later, or they get dumped on their ass to find that they're actually much better prepared than they thought later when it matters. That's why so many stories with these scenes dump their MC on their ass, especially in any Wuxia or Shounen manga. This is because the authors of these stories understand that sparring has no reflection on how well a person will do when they're allowed out of the training safe space. If your baseline is: my character is awesome. Then it's all downhill from that point on.

Say it with me, Losses Create Tension. If your character is winning all the time, you have no tension and your fight scenes will be boring. The goal when it comes to creating a character who is good at fighting is to make other characters look better. Or, from an antagonistic/mentor point they exist to establish the height our MCs must eventually reach/how much further they have to go in their journey. Kakashi's fight with Zabuza or the first fight between Itachi and Sasuke in Naruto are both great examples of how to do this well.

I'm not saying you can't write a sparring scene like the one you intend. I can't tell you to do anything, what I want to you to start doing is considering the implications of the scene, what it may say about your world and characters that you didn't intend, and it's overall impact on the whole of your narrative. Narrative gratification here is work you'll need to do to build back your tension later. Is it a win your MC can afford?

Now, you can look at any martial art that has a ground fighting component for what you want to do unless you're planning on having the duelist spar with their sword. If you want that, you're going to have to do a lot more work with a smaller pool. This will be doubly true if your characters are of European descent and you want to avoid the East Asian martial art styles.

Type: “how do you knock your opponent off balance?” into Google and you'll find a lot of variations.

The basic concept behind putting someone on the ground isn't strength, it's balance. The key is disrupting your opponent's balance. If you're skilled enough or your opponent's footwork is bad enough, it can be done in a single move. In fact, it can be done a variety of different ways from a variety of different moves from countless different martial arts. The question isn't can it be done, the question is how does your character want to do it? The fact they are short only helps them because their center of gravity will be lower than their opponent's, they don't have to work as hard to maintain their balance, their stance doesn't have to be as deep, and they will have an easier time knocking a taller person over. Most people who've never practiced martial arts have no idea how foundational the footwork is or how important the feet are to staying upright.

I personally like reviewing Silat for studying balance, not necessarily for techniques, but because I find their instruction on the concept easy to grasp/digest. They do the string on the top of the head and the balance triangle, which if you can wrap your mind around that you'll be able to conceptualize fight scenes where the character focuses on knocking an opponent off balance better.

The above is a more advanced video, but if you have no martial arts background or even a sports background whatsoever then you want to aim for instructional videos that focus on concepts over techniques. The advice is always write what you know and if you don't know learn. Copying techniques onto the page won't create a great fight scene. Understanding the concept, philosophy, and basic body mechanics behind the techniques will get you much further. None of them are stand ins for real experience or doing it yourself. If you really want to be good at it, find a martial art you like, find a school nearby, and invest the time.

All of your characters' martial arts moves (whether they are dueling with a sword or fighting hand to hand) function around the body's center of gravity. Your center of gravity is slightly above your hips and in your core muscles i.e your abdominal muscles. They will be trained so maintaining their balance is second nature. When martial artists talk about overextending, they're talking about putting your weight past your balance point which puts you in danger of losing your balance/falling over or being grabbed, kicked, etc and getting thrown, tripped, or forced into a fall. This can happen when you're throwing a punch, doing a kick, lunging with your sword, or doing any other sort of movement. You end up in a position where your balance between your front and back leg is destabilized, which creates the opening for your opponent to throw you. Or when you fall over on the ice, because that happens too.

Some other martial arts to turn to:

Judo

Jiu Jutsu

Aikido

Baguazhang (Seen in Avatar the Last Airbender as the basis for Air Bending)

Tai Chi Chuan

Northern Shaolin

Taekwondo (if you want to do it via kicks, all kicking martial arts innately focus on balance)

Krav Maga

Ninjutsu

The list goes on.

I also recommend dipping your toes into live action martial arts flicks to start getting yourself accustomed to more complex choreography. This is getting yourself out of the animated space (like in anime) and into the space where you have to watch a live person perform the techniques. Asian cinema has a different choreography style than the US does, because there are different cultural expectations. Overall, the choreography is more intricate and they break the action down a lot more (as opposed to American media where they zoom out to cover for the stunt double.) It's easier to see how the bodies are working and they put a lot more focus on destabilizing balance as part of the fight sequences. Hollywood doesn't get into the weird martial arts shit unless it's an actual martial arts action film. You can also do an Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra deep dive because the action there is also usually on point, but I'm a proponent of going to the source when you want to learn something. So, you know watch Alchemy of Souls instead.

-Michi

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

#writing reference #writing advice #writing tips #how to fight write #michi answers #martial arts #sparring

274 notes · View notes

mozziu-s · 4 months

Text

[Pictured above is that of SkyWing General Sparrow and ex-captain Searing engaged in sparring with swords. They are highlighted by a lightning storm that rages around them.] (SFAU)

-Annual report recorded by SkyWing scribe, Secretary, to superior, Scalding, approx. 15 years after the War of SandWing Succession began-

"This war has afflicted the tribes of Pyyrhia in way no other disaster has. Every of them raked to their core fighting for the SandWings and their royal squabbles.

The MudWings are nearly extinct. The IceWings sealed themselves behind their borders. The SeaWings have all turned to high-seas crime and piracy. The NightWings are only alive because they've enslaved most of the RainWings. (I hear their labor is used for making that awful thick and oily armor they wear) The SandWings themselves are all starving. I wonder what guilt they feel for the war they started? Any at all? The princesses better be sorry at least. I'm happy one is already dead.

The SkyWings survive. Not that we dont have our own problems though. The Queen has gone absolutely mad with gladiatorial gluttony. Drunk on violence. Her generals, Sparrow, Vermillion, Bloodstone, and Peregrine have taken over in her mental absence, it seems. The rest of us train. We protect our border and fight with vicious vigor. Iron sharpens iron. Flame adds to flame. We spar to keep us in practice in the event we are attacked from a force on the outside, or within. We'll be ready nontheless. The SkyWings will not fall to this war. Not to anyone. Not even to ourselves."

-end of report-

#sfau #wof au #wof sfau #wofau shit's fucked #yes thats what the acronym stands for #wof art #wings of fire #wings of fire ocs #wings of fire art #dragon art #digital art #dragon artist #swordfighting #sparring

304 notes · View notes

it-happened-one-fic · 1 month

Text

Sparring Sessions - Silver

Author Notes: So.. this fic is a sort of odd one in a lot of ways. I guess you could say I was inspired by a line from Silver's P.E. uniform where he says something about how he thinks Prefect has talent with a sword. To be honest, this fic has just been sitting in my google docs gathering dust and occasionally getting workshopped for quite some time. I really didn't know what else to post this week, so this one ended up being the lucky fic. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ fluff/ platonic or romantic

Word count: 1154

I panted slightly. Sliding backwards through the sand but not landing on my butt through sheer willpower and determination. From across the sandy sparring area, found in the shadow of Diasomnia’s dorm, Silver straightened. Ever calm and elegant.

He didn’t look out of breath or the slightest bit worn out, despite the fact that I was struggling to even halfway keep up with his pace.

Why exactly had I agreed to learn swordplay from Silver? Because he’d certainly done a good job of marketing it. Good enough that I almost wanted to tell Azul he should think about hiring the young man if it wouldn’t bring quite so much trouble to Silver’s doorstep.

Nonetheless, Silver’s reasoning had been strong.

Swordplay would be a means by which I could defend myself and would ensure that I was better prepared for the next overblot, whenever and if another occurred. Additionally, I didn’t have magic and was likely to be taken advantage of. Being able to defend myself would lessen that risk too.

Silver had also gotten Sebek on the case, who was more than happy to praise the virtues of learning swordplay. Citing it as a way to strengthen character as well as make me more capable.

All of that, plus a longing for something to do outside of Crowley’s many tasks and homework, had led me to this point. Determinedly sparring with Silver yet again, in an effort to beat him at least once.

Of course, before this point, there had been my lengthy training. Malleus and Lilia had both been delighted when I’d showed up asking to be trained, with Lilia even offering to be the one to teach me.

It hadn’t been very long at all, though, before my prospective teacher had backpedaled out of his offers. And I’d been surprised, until I’d learned that Lilia had done this because Silver had, out of nowhere and to the utter delight of his father, stated that he had been planning on being the one to teach me.

And teach me he had. But Silver was not exactly a kind teacher. He wasn’t cruel by any means; far from it. But he also didn’t take it easy on me. And he pushed me hard.

I’d come here to learn, and learn I would. My safety was dependent on it. But I was thankful for the way he pushed me. He didn’t coddle me, which was what I wanted.

But, that said, it didn't make repetitively losing any more enjoyable.

I huffed slightly as Silver shifted, preparing to launch towards me and continue our little joust the moment it became clear that I wasn’t about to tumble over.

His eyebrows rose at my frustrated expression, his single reaction before he darted forward at what ought to be inhuman speeds. Unfortunately, though, he was simply that fast.

I’d learned that the hard way.

Silver would never use magic against me. After all, he was chivalrous and fair, just a bit air-headed at times. However, that meant he only ever used his own innate, albeit trained, capabilities. Even if they seemed vaguely superhuman.

At the very least, I was beginning to understand exactly why Sebek was so frustrated by his seniors' skills. Even though I knew he’d had to train just as hard as anyone else, Silver’s proficiency was definitely kind of annoying.

I dodged to the side and whirled, launching myself at him. Because I knew perfectly well that this was my only chance to get him down.

His eyes went wide as I collided with him, knocking him off balance and sending us both tumbling towards the hard ground.

And I could hardly believe my luck when his back hit the earth.

He let out a soft grunt just before I landed on top of him, my wooden sword pressing into the ground just next to him. I panted heavily, looking down with slight surprise at the similarly startled young man under me.

As shock wore away, I felt pride set in, and a pleased smile curled across my face, “Ha! I win.”

I couldn’t help but teasingly gloat a little, and Silver’s wide-eyed surprise was soon replaced by a slight smile. And, for a brief moment, I genuinely believed that his smile was one of pride in the fact that his student finally won their first bout.

In reality, though, it was anything but.

His hand curled around my wrist, and, with a sudden shove paired with a yank, I had been flipped over and forced onto my back. My wooden sword rolling pitifully away across the ground.

It was my turn to stare wide-eyed up at the young man who now knelt above me, pale hair hanging around his face as he looked down at me.

To make matters worse, one of his hands securely held my wrists pinned to the ground over my head, while the other held his wooden sword to my neck. There was no getting out of this one.

“Never proclaim your victory until it is sure.” Ever the teacher, even with that frustratingly charming, if small, smile still on his face.

For a brief second, I just stared up at him, shocked. And then I felt frustration well up within me.

I began to thrash around, attempting to break his grip or knock him off me, one. Neither happened, though.

Instead, Silver remained unmoved, looking down at me with that slight smile still playing on his face. His eyes gave away his amusement, though. Beautiful purple yet blue eyes gleaming down at me with barely concealed humor.

Normally such a sight was impossible to see, but I’d been getting better at reading Silver and his subtle expressions. It wasn’t that he didn’t get amusement from things; it was just that he had to keep himself calm or risk suddenly falling asleep.

I at last stopped, breathing heavily from exertion, and he tilted his head, ever-patient and not the slightest bit condescending, as he calmly questioned me, “Done?”

I huffed out a sigh, letting myself flop against the ground and turning my face away so that I was looking across the training area instead of up at him. Even then, though, I could still see him perfectly through my peripheral vision, “I yield.”

He nodded, his smile briefly reappearing as he shifted, got off me, and stood. He held out one hand, which I silently accepted, letting him pull me to my feet with ease.

He picked up my sword and watched silently as I brushed the sand off my gym uniform. I glanced over at him, waiting for him to speak, and he tilted his head, “Next Tuesday?”

The tell-tale glimmer in his eyes said everything, but I found myself grinning back at him because I would be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying our little sparring sessions, even if he was a beyond frustrating opponent, “You’re on.”

104 notes · View notes

raevulsix · 1 month

Text

Eli Vanto ; While Sparring with Thrawn?

Ref from Pinterest, doodle by me :D

#eli vanto #eli #starwars rebels #starwars fanart #starwarsart #art #my art lol #thranto #star wars fanart #starwars #star wars #he needs more content #grand admiral thrawn #sparring

131 notes · View notes

sintoj · 1 year

Text

Things often get heated when these two play some Capoeira Benguela.

#art #animals #anthro #wolf #ferret #Brasa #Tapao #Capoeira #martial arts #Benguela #Sparring #Jogo

575 notes · View notes

ayyy-imma-ninja · 19 days

Note

Hello! I just love your fairy AU so much!

I was curious tho! Do lunar and Moon ever have sparing sessions together? To help prepare for fighting nightmares? (Or any other dangers)

Sun and Moon used to play wrestle a lot (still do) but I wouldn’t be surprised if Moon began doing the same for Lunar.

To not only make him feel more included, but it is also great exercise!

#answered ask #fairy au #dca fairy au #sundrop fairy #moondrop fairy #lunar fairy #sparring #play wrestling

63 notes · View notes

ky-landfill · 2 years

Text

#jason todd #tim drake #jason losing his dignity. jpeg #sparring

2K notes · View notes

barefistfighter · 3 months

Text

from the short film GUARD. Love the sound of the punches!

#boxing #boxer #muscular boxer #hot boxer #fighter #punching #sparring #boxing match #knock out

93 notes · View notes

triaelf9 · 4 months

Text

Oh yeah, here's a clip from my match against the 1st place winner, i went on to fight for 3rd and won (it was so fun omg). I'm the one with the white ribbon, and the other is in red. This was also me with a bad lung nasty going on, so not bad, all in all! Lol

#naginata #martial arts #sparring

97 notes · View notes

spacevixenmusic · 1 month

Text

Source: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2003]

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt 2003 #michaelangelo #nunchucks #sparring

70 notes · View notes

unoislazy · 5 months

Text

Spar With Me

(Part 3)

Mizu x Reader

Summary: after dealing with a situation in town, Mizu helps you calm down a bit.

Disclaimer; a small bit of violence

Part One

Part Two

————————————————————

Some time had passed since you had discovered Mizu’s pretty big secret. You had kept your mouth shut about your findings, in fact you hadn’t said anything about the situation entirely, not even to Mizu much like you had done for the sparring situation. You honestly didn’t know how Mizu felt about you knowing, you always seemed to find a way to stumble across the things she wanted to keep private and you felt awful about it. So much so that you had begun to distance yourself from the woman a bit, which wasn’t entirely that hard. Mizu was already a very quiet person, she was more of a listener than a talker unless she was interrogating someone for information, so if you weren’t the one asking the questions a conversation wouldn’t happen.

Well, that is unless Ringo asked the questions but oftentimes when it was up to Ringo, the conversation didn’t always really rely on the situation at hand or anything even remotely related.

A few sunbeams managed to break their way through the cloudy sky, gracing you with their shallow warmth as you continued on the very snowy path towards the village. It had already reached dusk by the time you had arrived, but you didn’t mind, you enjoyed the colors of the sun even if most of them were blocked out by the clouds.

Mizu had gotten some hint that she needed to go this way, so that’s the way you went. You didn’t know much about what you were really looking for and you didn’t necessarily have any real intentions on asking, it wasn't really your business you were just along for the ride.

The snow under your feet crunched and sloshed, indicating that many had walked the same path before you. It certainly hadn't been untouched, instead of being an appealing pure white color, the snow had become muddled with the dirt beneath it, creating a disgusting mixture.

You continued to face down, paying more attention to the path beneath you than where you had been headed and before you had realized it, you had lost Mizu and Ringo.

You frantically began to turn every which way, trying to find them but they were nowhere in your immediate sight. So, you made the decision that the best course of action was to go back the way you came and see where you might’ve lost them from there.

On your way back to where you had lost track of them you had passed by a group of men who seemed to just be conversing amongst each other outside of a teahouse. For any normal person it would’ve been much too early in the day to have begun drinking, but not everyone follows those ideals.

As you passed by, mentally recounting your steps, you took notice of them all turning and looking towards your direction, whispering amongst themselves about something.

You paid no mind to them, just wanting to focus on finding Mizu and Ringo first but before you could really go any farther, you felt a hand on your shoulder. You spun around quickly, realizing that it was one of the men from the group that you had passed by. You put on a sweet face, not wanting to start any trouble that didn’t need to be started and asked,

“Can I help you?”

To which the man responded,

“How much?”

You simply stared at him in confusion, taking notice that his friends had begun to walk up towards you as well, forming a very uncomfortably close half circle around you.

“Excuse me?” You asked, you initially thought he wanted to buy something off of you as you began to back away.

“How much?” The man gestured again, this time making sure to look you up and down.

“I’m not a courtesan, I’m sure there are plenty in one of the houses down that way.” You said through gritted teeth, trying to remain polite as you continued to back away. It seemed as if they weren’t getting the hint, and if they were they didn’t care in the slightest. The men laughed at what you had said despite it clearly not being a joke.

“Oh come on, you wouldn’t want a few extra ryo?” He laughed, reaching to place his hand back on your shoulder which you dodged slightly, obviously not wanting him to touch you.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” One of the other men joined in, trying to persuade you as he grabbed your arm. You struggled within his grip, trying to tug yourself free.

“I’d rather not, please let me go.” You were trying to stay polite but you were becoming more freaked out as their persistence grew. You continued to struggle against the man's grasp before another man had placed his hand on your other arm. Now you were being dragged by both arms back towards the tea house as you struggled against them,

“Let me go!” You shouted, which only earned a laugh from them as they continued to drag you. It seemed almost as if they found you struggling amusing in some way. It frightened you, who knew what waited for you beyond the doors of that tea house.

“Please just let me go!” You pleaded once more before one of the men had turned back to you, he was the only one who didn’t seem to find your begs and please funny. The rest of the men had stopped pulling you, but they still held on as you stared at the man before you.

The man made his way towards you, seemingly the leader of the group and likely the one who had the idea in the first place, and he stopped right in front of you. You could feel yourself begin to tremble as your body began to finally settle into the situation. Sure you knew how to fight a basic amount, but these men were unfortunately stronger than you, and you were unarmed so you had no advantage in this situation. Your entire body shook as this man stood before you, a scowl plastered on his face as he quickly raised his hand, ready to strike you.

You shut your eyes in fear, ready for the impact, but it never came.

Instead, all you heard was the sound of something being sliced, the thump of something being dropped, and the man who stood before you screaming out in pain. Once you had finally opened your eyes, you saw Mizu standing in front of you, her blade drawn and freshly covered in blood as the man cowered on the ground, curled into himself as he wept over his now severed hand.

“Let them go.” Mizu demanded, her blade now pointing at one of the men who held you while she glared daggers at the other. Even though she had her glasses on, her glare might’ve been strong enough to kill any man right where they stood, even without the added factor of her eye color.

“Why, You don’t own them do you?” The man who had literally just lost a limb spoke up, clearly testing Mizu’s patience. Her eyes quickly traveled from the man she had been looking at and stuck to him like he had a target painted on his forehead. He had some nerve implying that you were owned by anyone in the first place, let alone her. She didn’t allow his whining to continue on for much longer before delivering a blow that killed the man within seconds, not without spreading an abhorrent amount of blood in every direction first.

Once she had finished with him, she put her blade back up, now facing the two men who continued to hold you.

“I’d argue this isn’t something worth losing your lives over.” She said, before gesturing for them to go away. They both seemed to silently agree with her and let go of you before sprinting off into different directions with their tails between their legs. The moment the men let you go, your knees practically gave out on you, sending you stumbling forward a bit into Mizu as you continued to tremble. She tensed a bit, not expecting you to get so close but she eased up once she had realized how frightened you were. Her arms very cautiously wrapped around you, trying to comfort you the best she could having not really touched anyone in a non-fighting context in a long time.

By this point the sun had already set, she hadn’t gotten the information she wanted but she believed you were more important at this point in time than the tip she had been given. Besides, they would likely still be there in the morning so there was no rush.

“We should find some place to rest.” She suggested quietly as she continued to hold you, turning to Ringo as if to ask him to go look. He understood her look and nodded with determination, quickly going off to find the best place possible for his master.

Once Ringo had left Mizu looked down at you, taking in your features that she had never seen before. Anger? Maybe, Embarrassment? Definitely, but fear? You might’ve been afraid of a few things here and there but never had she seen you so shaken up, and she couldn't blame you. Usually she was much tougher on the people she was around, had it been anyone else that she had helped she might’ve just walked away after but you were different.

And despite her inner arguments, she knew exactly why.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her eyes had softened quite drastically compared to the way she had looked at the men. It was a look not many would’ve thought Mizu of all people was capable of.

You looked up at her, still stuck in your own world as you tried to process and work through what just happened. You didn’t know what to do, you didn’t know whether to shout, or scream, or even cry, so all you did was shake. Mizu sighed, not because you annoyed her, but because she felt bad for losing track of you. Sure you should’ve been paying attention, but she could’ve shown up faster to protect you. She truthfully didn’t know where you had gone until Ringo managed to hear you shouting and led her to you.

Before long, Ringo had come running back up,excitedly claiming he had found a place to stay. Luckily you all could afford to stay there, but unfortunately it would only be two rooms.

“You two should take the room together! I can go off on my own no problem!” He exclaimed proudly.

Mizu nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way back to the place he had found. She slowly let go of you, it would’ve been hard for her to continue to walk while in the position you two were in so she made sure you were steady first, then took her arms off of you. You were calming down but you were still a bit shaken up, sure one could argue nothing had happened to you but it was more the thought of what could’ve, and what might’ve if MIzu hadn’t gotten there when she did. You owed her a lot and you knew you’d have to repay her one day.

Mizu had begun to walk ahead a little, looking back at you to make sure you were following behind. She didn’t want to take her eyes off you and truthfully she really didn’t.

Once the three of you had arrived at the place Ringo had picked out, he went one way and the two of you went the other. The room that you had walked into was dimly lit, two futons lay towards the back of the room, a table that had been left with a few items on top was placed more towards the middle of the room, it was pretty cozy for something found at the last minute.

“We don’t have to sleep near each other, I’ll move mine over.” Mizu said plainly, already in the process of moving it over before you stopped her.

“Wait.” You began, she looked up at you, confusion riddled her face. “Would you mind actually… being closer? I just… I feel safer if I know you’re nearby and-” You explained but once you had looked back at her, you wanted to take back your words immediately. You felt so stupid asking for her to stay near you, you felt weak, you could protect yourself but you didn’t and now you were asking for her to be near you to comfort you?

You were so lost in your own thoughts you hadn’t realized that Mizu had already moved the bed back to its original spot with ease and without saying a single word.

“You don’t have to, It was just a sug-” You began, not wanting to feel as if you were forcing Mizu into an uncomfortable position.

“It’s fine.” Was all she responded with.

You supposed if MIzu didn’t want to be in a situation where she was uncomfortable, she wouldn’t. She would’ve just told you no, but she didn’t, so maybe you didn’t need to feel as bad as you did.

A little time had passed as you had both gotten ready to sleep. You sat straight up on your futon, staring at the wall facing away from Mizu as she laid down on her own. She had already taken her usual accessories off but of course they weren’t too far from her, her sword and glasses rested just as peacefully next to her.

You however, were still dealing with the aftermath of the adrenaline. You felt so energetic in a sense of fight or flight despite the situation having well passed by this point. It wasn’t your first time dealing with men that didn’t respect your boundaries, but it was the first time you couldn't deal with the situation on your own.

You tried to ignore it, finally laying down and turning away from Mizu, not really wanting to make your situation with her weirder than you already might have.

Despite being so worried, it didn’t take long for you to drift off to sleep, but your dreams were nowhere near pleasant. The only thing that kept replaying in your mind was what could have happened had Mizu not gotten there in time, you struggled throughout your dream, pulling as hard as you could to get out of the men's grasp to no avail. You called out to Mizu for help but she was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Ringo.

You quietly muttered Mizu’s name in your sleep, tossing and turning a bit as you continued to struggle. You weren’t being entirely disruptive but it was enough to wake Mizu up, thinking that you were calling for her which confused her once she realized you were still fast asleep. She was going to head right back to sleep before she had heard you say her name again, this time in a bit more of a panicked manner than you had last time.

She sat up this time now realizing that you were having a nightmare. She very carefully grabbed your shoulders, very lightly trying to shake you awake to snap out of it. It took a minute but once you had woken up, you immediately shot up out of the bed, moving away from Mizu as fast as possible.

“Hey, calm down, it’s me.” She said in a low voice, holding out her hand to you. She couldn’t see you very well given the low light but she could hear your rapid breathing and it worried her a bit. She knew what it was like to have nightmares but it had been so long since she had reacted in such a way that she almost forgot other people can still be frightened by them too.

“You’re okay.” She added on, trying to give you some form of comfort. In your panicked state, you grabbed Mizu’s hand, not entirely knowing what else to do considering how disorienting it was to wake up in a place you didn’t recognize and not being able to properly see your surroundings. Mizu took your hand and very gently pulled you closer to her, keeping her breathing slow and steady hoping you would begin to mimic her.

Now that you could feel Mizu and actually had something to ground yourself with, you finally began to calm down.

“I’m sorry.” You said quietly. You could feel her shift to look down at you.

“For what?” She asked, you could tell her confusion was genuine so you took a deep breath before explaining,

“I’m sorry you have to put up with this. You didn’t even want me in the group to begin with and now I’m giving you all these problems, I’m slowing you down for finding whatever man you’re going after.” You apologized. Once you had finished, you both sat in silence for a moment with Mizu still holding you. Despite what you had just said, you felt comfortable, you both did.

“Don’t be.” She began, “I get them too, nightmares I mean.” She admitted. You could feel her sigh a bit before going on to explain, “It’s been a long time since I started getting them though, so I don’t really react much anymore. I’m assuming this is your first time?” She asked to which you nodded.

“Maybe the next time we have some time, we should practice sparring again. That way you’ll be prepared for something like that.” She suggested lightheartedly causing you to give out a very light laugh. This was probably the most either of you had said about the topic since it had happened.

By this point, your breathing had returned to normal and you were much calmer than you were before. You couldn’t help but feel dreary as the adrenaline and fear slowly made its way out of your system and exhaustion took over.

“Hey Mizu?” You began through a yawn. You heard her make a small sound in acknowledgement as you finished yawning, “Can we stay like this?” You asked. You felt more comfortable in her arms than you had in a long time and you didn’t want to let go of that feeling… not yet at least.

You couldn't tell but a small smile had made its way onto Mizu’s face as she answered with a very short and simple, “Sure.”

By the time you had both laid down, you were practically out cold, but it was clear you weren’t going to be bothered by nightmares this time.

Every thought in Mizu’s mind was telling her she shouldn’t be doing this, she shouldn’t be getting so close to you, she couldn’t let herself get distracted. She had a goal and she had to finish it no matter what.

But she couldn’t help but secretly indulge in the joy she felt whenever she was around you. She tried to keep herself as distant from you as she could so she wouldn’t get attached but clearly that plan didn’t work like she had hoped. She knew one day she would have to get over herself and continue on like she planned, but now was not that day, tonight she didn’t need to worry about concerns of the future, all she had to worry about was your safety.

And for the first time in a long time there was not a single nightmare in sight for either of you.

536 notes · View notes

forestshadow-wolf · 8 months

Note

Thinking about your post about soapghost settling their arguments by fighting it out: one day they have an argument about something serious, some sort of major life decision (retirement, marriage, kids, something like that and really the only reason its an argument is because one of them is scared shitless by the idea) and it ends up on the mats with them yelling arguments about why it is/isn't a good idea until one of them just stares at their partner who is yelling passionately about the life they could have together and just... let's himself get pinned.

👀 did I do good?

thankyou for this ask !!!! this actually rots my frickin' brain and I needed an excuse to write more for this using this ask to force the arguments post into my girl-dad au, but doesn't have to be read that way.

P.s. this is a long one. Imma put ot under the cut

I imagine, way way before they retired, they had married and long-since agreed to retire together.

they'd fought about retiring. Ghost didn't mind the idea of it, was waiting for it to happen actually. but soap, he had quite a few hang-ups about it. see, he'd joined the army at an early age, as soon as he was legal, which means he doesn't really have any civilian life experience. what if he's not ready, what is it doesn't work for him, what if he can't do it, what if, what if, what if...

they argued, it was one of the first BIG arguments they'd ever had. but it's fine, they had a system. they get one day to resolve it with words, if they can't solve it, they take it to the mats. the logic is if you really believe in your argument, then you'll fight defend it adequately.

it was evident when they ended up on the mats on the second day that they hadn't resolved it. There was a mutual apoken agreement that they don'ttake the argumentoff the mats once it entered. they traded blows just as frequently as they traded arguments.

hours later they were panting and exhausted, and still hadn't come to an agreement, and nor had either of them won. so for the first time ever, they had to put the argument on pause. the put it aside for the night, cleaned up, had dinner, and fell asleep in each other's arms. the next morning they were back on the mats.

there was some point, when they were locked shoulder to shoulder, sweat making their skin stick together, and they were too out of breath to hiss arguments at each other. there was a moment where soap could hear Ghost's breath come out shaky with exertion, but still he pushed harder. soap realized that this, Simon retiring with his Johnny, was really truly important to Ghost.

it's not like he didn't know that, but still, the revelation almost makes him falter. suddenly it's like every argument he made against it, became irrelevant. he breaks away from Ghost's hold, panting. in a brash decision he dives for Ghost's legs, he knows what follows will be a grab around his waist just before his back slams into the mat. the sound that reverberates through the heated, sweaty air is, however, surprisingly loud. he lays there, gasping for the breath that got knocked out of him, and lets Ghost pin him down.

After soap finally agreed to retire with Ghost one day, he starts thinking about it. Really thinking. About how he grew up in a large family, and even in the military his life has been revolving around moving parts and people. He thinks maybe he might want a kid or two, not as many as his parents, but one or two.

Ghost says no immediately after soap brings it up.

He's afraid he'll do a bad job, that he'll mess it up. Or even worse; become his father. I mean, how is he supposed to be a good dad of he doesn't even know what that means! Christ! He's just gonna mess them up! He's not cut out to be a father. All he's know is death and hurt. How is that supposed to translate into something good.

This one. This argument lasted even longer than the one about them retiring. This one lasted almost an entire week.

And again like last time they got one day, before they hit the mats. That one day, was the single most tense day on base. Neither soap nor ghost could speak to eachother without circling back to the argument at hand. And of course nobody was willing to break up the fight, lest they get pulled into it.

For the six days after that, they shed their responsibilities, and hit the mats. And it was viscous. Neither held back. They were evenly matched. One fueled by fear, and the other; hope or love, choose your pick.

Even still there was an understanding that once the argument entered the mats, it stayed there when they left, to be picked back up when they came back.

They were sent on one mission during that time, on the sixth day after they hit the mats. It was supposed to last to be easy, would take them less than a day. Of course something went wrong, because something always goes wrong. They both almost died, but through some ruck of luck they got out barely scathed.

The put their gear away, ate, and hit the mats again; despite how tired they were. And Ghost, the moment that ge stepped back onto the mat again, he knew. He knew that he'd do anything for soap. They'd almost died today. But they didn't. Infact, they barely even had any scratches on them.

But still he couldn't fight that instinct to fight, to push back. And still soap was smiling that damned smile. He was so sure of himself, so sure of that he could get ghost to say yes.

And rightfully so. Because one moment he was lifting soap to throw him over his shoulder, and the next he was the one on the ground, soap having used his own momentum to pull his legs out from under him.

And he could have fought it, his mind screamed at him to. But soap was still grinning, and he knew that there was no way he'd be winning.

Perhaps... perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Perhaps he could learn to be not like his father. Perhaps he could learn to be a dad. Perhaps there was a chance, with soap by his side, showing him how, that he would ruin the child or children that they got. Perhaps soap could show him how to not be like his father.

126 notes · View notes