Post by Ranth on Apr 13, 2018 3:24:32 GMT -5
It was 9 O'clock in the morning on the dot when Ranth rose from his desk within the Kido Corps barracks and stretched his aching back. He'd been up since dawn coming up with budgeting strategies to bring the division out of the financially hard times it had fallen into since their former captain's departure. Although strictly speaking Ranth was only the 9th seat- barely a seat at all in his opinion- his background in accounting and administration had led him to being volunteered for the enormously important and strenuous task of handling a great deal of the Kido Corps paperwork.
He'd been a part of the Kido Corps for almost 8 months now and he'd been a seated officer for only the last month, but already he'd started to see signs of change. Recruitment was up, their spending cuts had put them in the black and general morale was noticeably higher than it had been 6 months ago. Ranth didn't credit himself for the latter change, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the reason why they weren't bleeding funds like they had been.
Still, as he surveyed the pile of completed forms and applications that would see them through the next fiscal quarter, he decided it was time for a break. In fact, he had an appointment that he was going to be late for if he didn't get a move on. For the past few weeks, he'd developed a routine of visiting the squad 11 barracks for sparring sessions with their seated officers.
At first, the novelty of a 'spell caster' in their midst had caused him to receive ridicule and be generally underestimated by most, but it hadn't taken long for Ranth to demonstrate his martial art prowess and now he was generally respected by most of the regulars and even had a handful of people who he was surprised- but grateful- to find counted him as a friend and organised to meet for training on a regular basis. Which is what today's appointment was all about.
Exchanging the white robes that he wore within the relative privacy of Kido Corps facilities for the standard issue black robes of the Kido Corps with their insignia emblazoned on the back, Ranth affixed his Zanpakuto to his hip and set off for the squad 11 barracks. He arrived at the sparring grounds at 9:25 and found Geralt, his friend and sparring partner for the morning already waiting for him- seated casually upon the fence of the arena- and the man greeted him with an enormous grin and a wave.
"There you are Ranthy boy, I was starting to think that you weren't going to be exactly on time for once", the burly man chuckled- knowing that whenever a time was set, Ranth could be expected to be there exactly on time, sometimes early, but never late. For Ranth's part, he just grinned back as he hopped the fence and led the way into the center of the arena. "C'mon Ger, you know me better than that", Ranth grinned over his shoulder as the other man joined him in the arena.
"What are you in the mood for today? Fists only? Legs only? Blindfolds?", Ranth asked casually of the other man, knowing that Geralt especially enjoyed sparring matches in which both he and his opponent placed some kind of handicap on themselves. Usually, he chose handicaps that were harder on himself than his opponent, but he'd soon found that against Ranth he couldn't afford to be too cocky.
"No handicaps today, my Vice Captain chewed me out for not practising how to fight properly often enough, so lets give it everything we've got", the man declared. Of course 'everything we've got' came with the unspoken proviso that Ranth wouldn't use any Kido, but Ranth was fine with that- he came here to train his martial arts after all, not his kido.
"Alright, don't hold back" Ranth saidas he took up a combative stance facing Geralt, who took up a stance of his own. "You took the words right out of my mouth", the big man replied with an enthusiastic gleam in his eyes. Now Ranth could be considered to be above average height at 6'2", but Geralt was a beast of man who stood at 6'6" and had thickly built muscles that provided him with incredible strength. In a straight up contest of strength, Ranth would lose every single time- and often did whenever he failed to escape the man's reach.
So as Geralt went on the offensive, Ranth played to his own strengths relative to Geralt's weaknesses- speed and technique. It was said that martial arts were invented so that the weak could compete with the strong and Ranth was the embodiment of that sentiment as he ducked and weaved around Geralt's attacks. This wasn't the first time they'd sparred and each had a fairly good idea of each others win conditions. For Ranth, he needed to 'float like a butterfly and sting like a bee', as the saying went, whilst Geralt just needed to land a couple of hits or get close enough to grapple with his opponent.
Ranth knew he couldn't afford to block Geralt's punches, as his blows would inflict damage regardless of whether Ranth got his guard in the way or not and he could hit Ranth from further away than Ranth could hit Geralt, so instead he relied on diverting the big man's blows by pushing them aside instead of confronting them directly. Outside the arena, a small crowd had gathered to watch the David versus Goliath spectacle unfold. Usually, such a crowd would be quite boisterous and prone to calling out useless advice or making jokes, but for some reason they were rather subdued today, though Ranth couldn't spare enough attention to ponder the reason why.
Instead, he was patiently waiting for an opening in Geralt's attack pattern and it didn't take long until just such an opening was presented as the man let loose an especially vigorous right straight. Instead of pushing this attack aside as he had done with the previous punches, Ranth instead leaned back with his body and kicked out with his right leg, catching Geralt squarely in the gut before the man's arm could come close to hitting him.
Now winded, Geralt gasped for air as he fought against the instinct to double over and instead did his best to retreat as Ranth went on the offensive. Although weaker, Ranth was still no slouch as he rained blows down upon his opponents floundering guard. Knowing he didn't have much time before the big man got his wind back, Ranth hooked his foot behind Geralt's ankle and pulled back towards him, causing the retreating man to tumble backwards onto his back.
In a real fight, this would have been the point where Ranth would have gone in for a finishing blow, but as per sparring rules, once an opponent was on the ground that was considered a loss. Nobody wanted to suffer- or inflict- grievous damage during a simple sparring match after all. A polite, somewhat subdued round of applause came from the assembled crowd as Ranth helped Geralt back onto his feet before both turned towards the unusually quiet crowd.
Ranth didn't see anything obviously out of place, but it was undeniable that something unusual was going on. However, with no idea what that something was, Ranth could only shrug inwardly in bewilderment as he made his way back towards the subdued crowd where he'd left his zanpakuto and squad robe. As he vaulted the fence, he didn't notice the woman who stood inconspicuously amongst the others, nor did he notice that she was watching him closely as he passed within 5 feet of her to greet another group of squad 11 members who had seen the duel and came to congratulate him and mock Geralt in equal measure.
He'd been a part of the Kido Corps for almost 8 months now and he'd been a seated officer for only the last month, but already he'd started to see signs of change. Recruitment was up, their spending cuts had put them in the black and general morale was noticeably higher than it had been 6 months ago. Ranth didn't credit himself for the latter change, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the reason why they weren't bleeding funds like they had been.
Still, as he surveyed the pile of completed forms and applications that would see them through the next fiscal quarter, he decided it was time for a break. In fact, he had an appointment that he was going to be late for if he didn't get a move on. For the past few weeks, he'd developed a routine of visiting the squad 11 barracks for sparring sessions with their seated officers.
At first, the novelty of a 'spell caster' in their midst had caused him to receive ridicule and be generally underestimated by most, but it hadn't taken long for Ranth to demonstrate his martial art prowess and now he was generally respected by most of the regulars and even had a handful of people who he was surprised- but grateful- to find counted him as a friend and organised to meet for training on a regular basis. Which is what today's appointment was all about.
Exchanging the white robes that he wore within the relative privacy of Kido Corps facilities for the standard issue black robes of the Kido Corps with their insignia emblazoned on the back, Ranth affixed his Zanpakuto to his hip and set off for the squad 11 barracks. He arrived at the sparring grounds at 9:25 and found Geralt, his friend and sparring partner for the morning already waiting for him- seated casually upon the fence of the arena- and the man greeted him with an enormous grin and a wave.
"There you are Ranthy boy, I was starting to think that you weren't going to be exactly on time for once", the burly man chuckled- knowing that whenever a time was set, Ranth could be expected to be there exactly on time, sometimes early, but never late. For Ranth's part, he just grinned back as he hopped the fence and led the way into the center of the arena. "C'mon Ger, you know me better than that", Ranth grinned over his shoulder as the other man joined him in the arena.
"What are you in the mood for today? Fists only? Legs only? Blindfolds?", Ranth asked casually of the other man, knowing that Geralt especially enjoyed sparring matches in which both he and his opponent placed some kind of handicap on themselves. Usually, he chose handicaps that were harder on himself than his opponent, but he'd soon found that against Ranth he couldn't afford to be too cocky.
"No handicaps today, my Vice Captain chewed me out for not practising how to fight properly often enough, so lets give it everything we've got", the man declared. Of course 'everything we've got' came with the unspoken proviso that Ranth wouldn't use any Kido, but Ranth was fine with that- he came here to train his martial arts after all, not his kido.
"Alright, don't hold back" Ranth saidas he took up a combative stance facing Geralt, who took up a stance of his own. "You took the words right out of my mouth", the big man replied with an enthusiastic gleam in his eyes. Now Ranth could be considered to be above average height at 6'2", but Geralt was a beast of man who stood at 6'6" and had thickly built muscles that provided him with incredible strength. In a straight up contest of strength, Ranth would lose every single time- and often did whenever he failed to escape the man's reach.
So as Geralt went on the offensive, Ranth played to his own strengths relative to Geralt's weaknesses- speed and technique. It was said that martial arts were invented so that the weak could compete with the strong and Ranth was the embodiment of that sentiment as he ducked and weaved around Geralt's attacks. This wasn't the first time they'd sparred and each had a fairly good idea of each others win conditions. For Ranth, he needed to 'float like a butterfly and sting like a bee', as the saying went, whilst Geralt just needed to land a couple of hits or get close enough to grapple with his opponent.
Ranth knew he couldn't afford to block Geralt's punches, as his blows would inflict damage regardless of whether Ranth got his guard in the way or not and he could hit Ranth from further away than Ranth could hit Geralt, so instead he relied on diverting the big man's blows by pushing them aside instead of confronting them directly. Outside the arena, a small crowd had gathered to watch the David versus Goliath spectacle unfold. Usually, such a crowd would be quite boisterous and prone to calling out useless advice or making jokes, but for some reason they were rather subdued today, though Ranth couldn't spare enough attention to ponder the reason why.
Instead, he was patiently waiting for an opening in Geralt's attack pattern and it didn't take long until just such an opening was presented as the man let loose an especially vigorous right straight. Instead of pushing this attack aside as he had done with the previous punches, Ranth instead leaned back with his body and kicked out with his right leg, catching Geralt squarely in the gut before the man's arm could come close to hitting him.
Now winded, Geralt gasped for air as he fought against the instinct to double over and instead did his best to retreat as Ranth went on the offensive. Although weaker, Ranth was still no slouch as he rained blows down upon his opponents floundering guard. Knowing he didn't have much time before the big man got his wind back, Ranth hooked his foot behind Geralt's ankle and pulled back towards him, causing the retreating man to tumble backwards onto his back.
In a real fight, this would have been the point where Ranth would have gone in for a finishing blow, but as per sparring rules, once an opponent was on the ground that was considered a loss. Nobody wanted to suffer- or inflict- grievous damage during a simple sparring match after all. A polite, somewhat subdued round of applause came from the assembled crowd as Ranth helped Geralt back onto his feet before both turned towards the unusually quiet crowd.
Ranth didn't see anything obviously out of place, but it was undeniable that something unusual was going on. However, with no idea what that something was, Ranth could only shrug inwardly in bewilderment as he made his way back towards the subdued crowd where he'd left his zanpakuto and squad robe. As he vaulted the fence, he didn't notice the woman who stood inconspicuously amongst the others, nor did he notice that she was watching him closely as he passed within 5 feet of her to greet another group of squad 11 members who had seen the duel and came to congratulate him and mock Geralt in equal measure.
