Martial Lizards

    In the forest commonly populated by many a boar and other animals that happen to be the target of grinding for Adventurers (mostly those with the Hunting skill, though others still make an effort), just a bit off the beaten path, a curious event is taking place.

    The shadows between the trees are lit up by the occasional flare and blaze of flames -- traced along the motions of red-scaled feet and hands alike.

    THe source of it isn't hard to find. In a clearing within the trees, a red-haired Salamander is going through a series of practiced motions; feet and fists alike sweeping through the air in rapid, sweeping motions, with ethereal flames tracing in the air behind them. Spinning, and jumping kicks alike from his powerful legs, alongside quick jabs, hooks and slams from closed fists and open palms alike from thickly-muscled and partially-scaled arms, all aimed at some imaginary shadow opponent. A blur of red from flame and scale and gold from the long, flowing scarf.

It would seem more than one Salamander had chosen the woods for some practice and exercise.

In the case of Vertina it was almost constantly in motion as she weaved left and right amongst the trees as a natural obstacle course. Occasionally she had to hop over some roots, or duck a branch because of her height. Didn't matter if it was soccer or fighting, her style relied on remaining mobile.

There was an audible THUD though as she jumped and kicked off a tree to change directions faster than she could of turned naturally, leaving a flash of flames and smoking imprint of her foot in the bark.

Maybe she saw the other flashes in the forest because that's the direction she's running now.

    The flashes and flickers of flames continue amidst the trees long enough for VErtina to continue following them towards their source. CLoser and closer, they get brighter, until she reaches the clearing where they originate from...

    And mysteriously, there's nothing there, then. Just a few, faintly-smoking spots on the ground here and there.

    "Ah! Is that Vertina-san?"

    The voice comes from above, and lo and behold, there's the familiar sight of Atif there... hanging-upside down from a tree branch his legs have wrapped up around. "That really scared me! I thought there was a fireball or something barrelling towards me!"

    ... As if he wasn't causing a concerning display of pyrotechnics, too.

Vertina skids to a stop at the clearing. Seeing nothing at first has her a bit on edge, as in this world seeing something then nothing had a tendancy to be a monster ambush of some kind.

But this ambush is only of the friendly fellow leezerd sort. Her tail flicks a few times at hearing Atif's voice but she relaxes, lowering her arms from her defensive stance as she looks up and smirks. "That was a pretty quick disappearing act there. Hello!"

At the fireball remark she glances over her shoulder in the direction she came. "Nah, I kicked the flame ball a while back, that was just me working on maneuvering and maintaining speed." Pigtail swung with the motion as she turned her head to gaze back up at the hanging Atif again. "Not ever monster is going to stand still and just let you beat the poop out of them after all."

    "Hoo? THat's pretty impressive! I'm fast, but I never though about using my fire itself for launching myself into motion." Atif's tail flicks from side to side while he remains upside-down up there, eyes sparkling faintly. Apparently just from the picture of the move he's likely imagining the other lizard to have pulled off.

    His legs loosen up from aroudn the tree branch, then, to send him falling down. He pulls his knees up close to his chest while he falls, though, and rolls his weight along to guide him flipping around several times over-- before springing out again, and landing into a crouch on his feet gracefully just in front of Vertina.

    "You out here practicin', too, or you grindin'?" He asks as he straightens upright again, with a light bounce on his feet, hand nudging his golden scarf out to behind his shoulder.

Vertina smirks at the admiration. "Jet engines just move by pushing hot air. Why not do the same with fire magic?" Though after a moment she holds a hand out and wobbles it back and forth a little. "It is a little tricky to get the hang of... but that is all the more reason to practice, yes?" That does essentially answer the question of what she was doing.

She stretchs her arms up a moment, and then bends them back to fold her hands at the back of her head, pigtails dangling lazily over her forearms. "I never did find out what style of martial artist you are Atif."

    "Hoo... It just seemed a little dangerous for my surroudnings is all..." Admits Atif with a thoughtful purse of his lips. "Hmmm... I've mostly just used air magic to speed me up along with... huh..." His crimson brows knit together for a moment, and he lifts one knee up high, wiggling the leg in question to settle the scale-covered shin and talon'd foot swaying lightly in the air in front of him. "I wanna say the muscles here? But I guess technically it just accounts for the strength stat rather than your actual build here. WHichever way you wanna look at it, I suppose."

    The leg is lowered back down, and he makes a little bounce backwards, getting a more proper look over Vertina as if he was sizing her up, while his hands gingerly wrap up together by the small of his back. "Me? Mmm... I wanna say it's Shorinji Kempo, but I haven't really gotten to practice that in a long time. But I guess what I do here is mostly inspired by what I learned from my sensei back there."

Vertina nods as Atif explains. "Something that's more a combination of technique, for both body and spirit. Cool. I've heard of it but not ever really seen any dedicated practicioners."

She lowered her arms from her head, instead using them (and the now convenient to have tail) to steady herself as she snaps up her right leg and does three short thrusting kicks with it. "My main style is Taekwondo. It's very kick and movement focused... though here I've learned how to use my fists too. Versatility has advantages. Of course..."

She turns as she lowers her leg, but rather than to stop it's to shift into position and pump herself off the ground. The backward flip whips up her other leg in what would be the stylish 'bicycle kick' move if she had an actual ball handy. She lands on her hands and springs from that to get back onto her feet. "I've learned to take advantage of my soccer techniques as well."

    "Well, the roots come from chinese martial arts, you know," Atif explains, bending slightly at the waist to lean over towards VErtina momentarily with his hands still clasped behind his back. "Kung-Fu. So maybe you've seen something like it in movies?"

    He straightens up again with that, and takes a small step back to clear space for her display (it'd do no good to accidentally take a foot to the chin). Hands unwrap from his back, and he watches the demonstration with a slightly hung-open mouth, green eyes glittering. "Aaaah! THat's really cool!" He proclaims once she's come down onto her feet all over again, head nodding rapidly. "Oh, oh! That's how you thought to do the kick with the rock the other day!" His hands both tighten into fists, just to be pumped downwards in front of him. "I can't wait to see how you use that in a fight!"

    Real energetic and excitable this one, apparently.

"Exactly!" Excitable sure, but he catchs on quickly and Vertina appreciates not having to explain all the small details. "Combine that with some elemental magic and enemies can't avoid me just by keeping their distance," she replies, grinning to show some of her sharper fangs. "They just might get a stone, or knotted thorns, or even a fireball to the head instead of my foot directly. Best to make use of the skills and experience I have as well as what the world gave us, right?"

    "--Wait, are you telling me you can kick a *FIREBALL*?!" Atif's reaction might come across as disbelieving, initially, but then... his eyes widen out and sparkle all over again. "AAAH I wish I'd know how to do that! That's so cool!"

    Then, a faint look of disappointment. "I could never get a hold of magic like that... I mean, I can work magic enough that I can channel healing spells, and channel the heat of fire magic really well..." To demonstrate, he tightens his hands into fists again, and pumps his elbows to his sides as a bright, roaring flame blazes up around his fists and forearms, all the way up to where the scale-covering ends at just past his elbows. IT's bright, heated, and wide, even if it somehow doesn't seem to result in his clothes catching on fire.

    He lets that blaze last for just a few seconds, though, before it extinguishes, and he offers a sheepish smile. "...Buuut that's about it. I don't know how to finetune it enough to make, like... fireballs or darts or whatever. That I can do this much I guess you can just put down to..." The now-less-flaming fist is brought to thump against the left side of his chest. "The burning spirit of my heart!"

    ...That's one way to look at it.

"Not that any of that is bad! Burning spirit and hot blooded, that's good." Vertina chuckles a bit. "We are Salamanders after all."

Vertina does similar, clenching her hands tightly into the 'bear paw' fist that's protuding the middle knuckles instead of the typical back ones, and strikes a pose with right arm tucked at her side and the left bent up near her head more defensively. As she does so both fists and wrists flare up in similar gouts of flame.

The real kicker, pun intended is that the sparks of elemental flame can be seen crackling around her feet as well. Vertina pivots away from Atif as she brings up her right leg and extends it in the same rising arc as one would kick a soccer ball with. The fire around that foot grows brighter with the motion so when she reaches the apex of the kick with her leg almost fully whipped out a ball of flame does indeed fling off her foot and leave scorch marks in the bark of a tree across the clearing.

Vertina drops the kicked foot back to the ground to stabilize herself. "I can make bigger, but I don't want to start any fires out here."

    Atif ends up pre-emptively moving to the side, again, when it becomes clear Vertina is abotu to go through another demonstration of her ability. And as she might have expected, the sight of a fireball getting kicked out like a flaming football brings an excited expression to the Red Salamander's features. And even mor so when there's promises of being able to create a *bigger one*.

    "Maybe I'll get to see that someday," he rumbles out as he slides up besides the pig-tailed girl to peer at the scorching marks left upon the far-off tree. "I have to take up a quest with you someday, just for the chance, eh?" Head turning, sharp teeth are flashed in a wide, bright smile.

    "That the kind of thing you do for fun?" He asks of her after he turns on the heel of his foot to face her more directly, head cocked slightly sidewards. "You seem like that'd be the sort of thing you enjoy in general. The thrill of quick movement and beating down mobs, yeah? Even just running, maybe?"

"Fire comes easily. It's fast and intense, just like competing it. I can do it with earth and stone, like you saw before, but that takes more focus to build up. The goblin ranger I pounded with one the other day didn't like it very much though. A high speed ball of rock and dirt to the head dazed him just long enough for Wisteria to get behind him and make goblin gibs."

Vertina rocks on her heels a few times. She also seems to be the sort that doesn't stay still for very long, just not as feneticly as her more excitable companion. "You better believe it. I'm here for the action! The challenge! The thrills! The..." She simmers down a little, and shrugs. "I was an athelete in the real world. This is my return to glory you could say."

    "A lot of people got into this thing because of that too, right?" Atif observes, smiling wide still -- and rocking lightly on his own heels the whole while, almost in mirroring of Vertina's own idle movement. "Too feel all the high stakes thrills without the risks. I kind of got into this partly for that too... though I had plenty other reasons."

    A couple bounces carries him back away from the other Salamander, then, and he nudges his head sideways. "Hey. Hey. Wanna go running with me? Lot of rocks and trees and brushes in the way from here to the beach to make the sprint interesting."

"Not the long term risks, at least." Vertina agrees, and doesn't bother to elaborate farther when no farther questions are asked. She doesn't mind talking about what happened to her but has no reason to bring it up if the details aren't inquired for either. No need to ruin the moment.

"That's why I was running here in the first place. Nothing like nature's obstacle courses to practice your maneuvering!"

    "Then wanna make it a race?" Atif suggests with a wide, sharp-toothed grin, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his neck craned back just enough to let him keep peering back to VErtina even when he's not fully facing her. "If you like the thrill and all. The winner gets..."

    Pause.

    "...Actually, I dunno. I didn't think that far ahead. I don't usually do anything for prizes."

Vertina laughs. She was already energetic but that didn't make his ethusiasm any less infectionous. "I appreciate the sentiment, but there doesn't need to be prizes to be exciting. The thrills of a contest is it's own reward.

    "Oooh, that's the kinda spirit I like," Atif proclaims with a cheerful rumble in his throat, bouncing a bit more on his feet before he lowers himself down slightly in his stance. Eyes still peering to her expectantly. "Come on. On your go then. Let's show each other our fire."

With how tall Vertina was its almost just as impressive to see her crouch down into a runner's beginning stance. Track and field wasn't one of her big sports but she's done enough running excersizes and drills in her time to know the basics. The idea was to compress your body just enough that it was like a spring when you pushed off for that extra bit of oomph. "Okay then. On your mark... get set... GO!"

Despite that she waits an extra second just so she doesn't have the unfair advantage of the one calling the start knowing when it's coming. Not that it makes that much difference, as once she leaps into motion and takes advantage of the stride her long legs give her she's practically at neck with the other Salamander as soon as they're going.

    In the instant the other Salamander calls the GO! Atif is launching himself into forward motion. Bare, reptilian feet kick at the groudn to continue his initial forward momentum before he sets into a fierce sprint.

    But that's not quite all. After a quick glance sideways to the blonde salamander keeping neck to neck with him, he leaps off into the air. Pouncing onto a larger rock to use as a springboard, first, sending him further through the air and to a tree. Both feet brace into the trunk, first, with knees spending to form his legs into springs that launch him towards another tree-- pouncing from one tree to another, occasionally leaping higher up from tree branches. Wild, fiery hair and golden scarf fluttering behind him in the air.

Vertina tilts her head up a bit to watch Atif leap into the air and take across the canopy like some kind of mad tree fog. "Hah! Who says parkour is only for the cities?!" But best to not get distracted by the display -- Not when she can make her own.

She leans forward more into her run, keeping her head down to avoid any low hanging branches as she weaves through a few of the trees like a forward zigzagging around the opposing team's players. As she does so she channels that fiery spirit into her elemental control, and starts to kick up a mass of smoldering flame between her feet. Back and forth as she does, dribbling it the same as a game ball.

Until she gets to another reasonable length of clearance down the forest. That's when she bumps the flame ball ahead of her, then jumps herself. Her feet kick the ball, shoving it into the ground and causing it to explode and launch herself ahead on the flames that erupt from it doing so! It's followed by a kick off a trunk much like she did earlier, this time to spring herself farther forward and resume her own dash instead of reversing directions.

    "Oi, oi, oi!" Atif calls out from just above Vertina. Some manipulation of elemental Air magic itself manages to keep him holding up more airtime and momentum in between each leap, too. But even with that he has some brief difficulties with keeping up the same speed that she gained from the sudden rocket-like propulsion she created with the explosion. "DOn't set the forest on fire now!"

    Higher and higher he leaps and springs from each tree branch and trunk -- enough so that every now and then he almost seems to glide through the air before needing to use his feet to spring off of a surface once more continued forward momentum.

    And with the pace the two of them keep up, the sight of the beach and the waters glimmering under star- and moonlight closes in rapidly.

Vertina has speed and power, but she doesn't have as much of the acrobatics as the nimble Atif is using to run amongst the tree tops. She needs to refine her own Air Wave Artes, apparently. "I'm not going to set anything on fire!," she shouts back. "I had it under complete contro--whoa!" It's not uncommon for older trees in the forest to eventually fall, either from the weather or from time in itself, and there's one lying propped against another young spruce right in her path.

Vertina extends a leg forward to catch the ground, skidding on her heel briefly as she leans back. As soon as her hand catchs the ground it ripples, a bit of Earth manipulation making it soft and slick like loose dirt. It's enough to allow her to duck down and slide through the small space beneath the fallen log. Though she can't keep her speed up the whole time, and as soon as she can bounce back onto her feet it's a rough dash to catch back up.

Though pulling that dodge stunt was probably worth the show.

    "Controlled detonation, huh!" Atif calls back down to Vert with a loud, joyously roaring laughter while he sweeps through the air. Of all things, though? He does actually slow down a bit when it seems like she might be about to smack right into a tipped-over tree -- only to slide right down underneath it with the help of the EArth itself being moved underneath her.

    "Hahaha! Yes! Just like that!" He practically cheers her on like that, before he picks up his own pace again, in the zigzagging, high-leaping motions that are traced by red and gold streaks both.

    All the way up until he finally sends himself leaping high up into the air. In a high, wide arc meant to guide him right for the water beyond the sands of the beach. Probably end up buying her time to get to the shoreline proper before him, though.

A high, far reaching arc of a leap out of the forest. And Vertina is still a few paces behind as she bursts out of the treeline, and clawed feet crunch down into the sand of the beach. The softer and looser material kicks in a spraying arc up and behind her, looking much like a wave of sand flung in the opposite direction.... And now she needs to stop as much as she needed boosts of speed before. Thinking of the fly Vertina draws up some of her ki energy, directing it through her leg as she takes a short forward jump.

And drives a hard kick into the beach. The resulting shockwave of impact sends sand rippling outward like a shallow crater, but it does the job of putting most of her momentum into that spindrift of sand and skid herself to a stop. If she's first or not... really doesn't matter.

    ANd onec she finally skids to a complete stop there ont he sands...

    Atif is sailing through the air over her.

    "Heeeey! YOu won! THat was a good ru--"

    His congratulory words get cut off by a big SPLOOSH of water when his arc finishes, with him hitting the water head-first. Sending out big waves with his sinking out of view into the waters proper.

    ...THankfully, before the other Salamander would have a chance to worry about her male compatriot potentially drowning, there is another wave-sending splash as a red-haired figure rises up above the surface with an inhale of air, water-matted hair clinging to his skin and wildly splattering water all aroudn him.

Vertina cringes as Atif apparently overshot his glide and lands in the water. Fortunately he comes back up a moment later. Though.. Water is the one element she really can't do much with. "Uh.. can you swim or do you need some help?" She'll think of something, if she has to.

    "I'm fiiiine!" Atif calls back in answer with a cheerful laughter. And indeed, he paddles his way through the water until his feet can reach the groudn, and then simply wades his way back through. ... THough with him having taken a dip like that, he is truly, completely, utterly soaked. Shirt and shorts dripping all over, skin sheened with moisture and his fiery hair hanging down, damp and matter with all the water.

    ANd yet, he smiles bright in spite of it all.

    "Wasn't that fun?"

"Yes, yes it was. Get the hot blood pumping. Doesn't really matter who won in the end." Vertina walks back to the edge of the woods, grabs a few sticks and brush, then comes back to dump them on the sand. Less likely to start any woods on fire on the beach. But a small campfire will help Atif to dry off at least. "I had to work to keep pace with you."

    On the way towards Vertina and the campfire she is slowly setting up, Atif tugs and pulls at his shirt. Between it already being on the tighter side to begin with, and now being thoroughly soaked and trying to cling to his skin, it takes a bit of effort, but he eventually manages to draw it up over his head and off completely. "Haaaah... I should swim more often. But maybe with trunks instead of my usual clothes..."

    He gives his head a firm shake, causing his hair to flutter this way and that and send a wide spray of water out in an effor to get at least the worst of the moisture out of it. "Ah... I saw you can manipulate Earth too? Can you form a small pit there? Easier to make a fire."

"Fire, Earth, Ki." Vertina pauses to punch the sand in a much lighter version of the technique she used, causing it to collapse inward and drop the smoldering kindling into a shallow pit that forms. "Air is mainly for defense and speed buffing, like you said yourself. And the basic kicking and punching and other martial combat things."

    The sopping shirt set aside, Atif drops himself down to sitting cross-legged right besides the formed-up firepit, heavy tail curling up behind him. "Yeah... Mm. If I was more skilled with fine-tuned magic, I could combine air and fire, probably, to make the equivalent of a blowdryer. Someone did that to me the other day when I took a dip in the water, too... I don't dare to try it, though. I feel like I might actually set myself on fire like that."

Vertina nips her lower lip a moment. "Yeah. I don't know if I can finess air like that... and probably not risk it near the woods." She claps her scaled hands together, knocking a few sparks into the firepit to ignite it. "This works just fine, anyways." She sits down next to the pit and crosses her legs. "Probably safer for getting your shirt dried, too."

    "Yeah... Wouldn't wanna burn it and end up having to go around topless until I get back to town again," Atif agrees easily, scooching himself a bit closer to the fire in the meantime. "It's way too chilly out for that. Brrr." A shiver runs over his body with that -- the combination of the february air and the water soaking his body both starting to catch up with him.

"Yeah." Vertina leaned back a little to look up at the sky. "I never realized the seasons were set to match the real world. Guess you never paid attention to that sort of thing when you could log out whenever you need to."

    "I think if you played often enough you probably noticed," Atif suggests... but then, his crimson brows knit together thoughtfully. ":..Huh. Or, I guess, if you play often enough, maybe you get the same effect as in real life...? Seasons flowing smoothly and steadily enough aroudn you that you don't really realize it's happened until you actually stop to think about what the outside looked a couple months earlier?"

Vertina chuckles a bit. "Maybe a bit of both? Sometimes we don't get the time we wish we had to watch the world around us." Then makes a bit of a sad face. "Or ignorant. A lot of people it seems don't -want- to go out and see the world for themselves anymore."

    THe usual energetic smile on Atif's features fades a bit. "... I suppose it's partly because of games like this..." He murmurs in a low rumble. The shirt in the meantime is picked up, and wrung up, squeezed to work some more water out of it. Speed up the drying process.

    "Well. Hey. You wanna do this again sometime, though?" He asks of her then, expression brightening up again. "Just running, or whatever else. This was a lot of fun."

"... I meant more being busy. Working. Growing out of things like this." Though Vertina can't really say his conclusion is wrong, either. Bah. That's depressing though. She's had enough depressing in her life. Moving on. "Yeah! It's a good workout, too."