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 Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 4:14 am
 Smack, thump! Smack, thump! Wild Hunt was out in the woods keeping her fighting abilities sharp. Currently, she was practicing on a dead tree. She did a quick jab with one front hoof, and then was following it up with a hook from the other, alternating sides after each set of five. It was tiring, but very important work. She had to make sure she stayed in top shape no matter what. You never knew when someone was going to sneak up and spring on you. Wild Hunt took her duties to protect the forest seriously. To be fair, it actually was a self-imposed duty; no one told her she had to do it. She just felt compelled to beat the snot out of anyone who left trash laying around the woods or forgot to put out their camp fire correctly. Mostly it was all just innocent mistakes and nothing nefarious she had to worry about. But still she practiced. Someday someone who presented an actual challenge would come along and do something horrible that she needed to stop. She wasn't exactly sure what that would be, but she would be ready for it. Her mind wandered to other things, and slowly she fell back into rhythm. Smack, thump! Smack, thump!
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:39 pm
It wasn't long before Wild Hunt had an audience. Distracted from her herb collecting and conveniently in the right place to hear the repetitive ‘smack, thump!’ of Wild Hunt taking on a dead tree, Tiger Balm had fluttered over to take a look. She was now perched neatly on a low-hanging branch, watching the fighting practice with a thoughtful scowl. Tiger Balm talked a lot about 'kicking-a**'. If someone got on her nerves (and that was often), she was always quick to give the warning. She’d found that usually her self-belief and a fierce scowl was enough to make anyone back down. However, now that she had grown, she realized that maybe others would be more inclined to accept her challenge. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know how to fight and had never actually done any 'a**-kicking' at all. Sure, she would put up a good showing, she didn't doubt that, but some actual moves might prove useful in a brawl. Wild Hunt might be somewhat overzealous with her self-appointed career and not exactly health conscience when it came to certain activities, but she was tough and Tiger Balm admired that. So it was with a hopeful grin, that she called out to interrupt Wild Hunt’s training, "hey, maybe you could teach me some of that?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:25 pm
The sound startled her a little, and she jumped. Wild Hunt sighed. That was not the correct reaction. She must have been getting rusty; usually she would have dove at the sound and tried to rip it's head off. Which, it was a really good thing that she didn't, because it was Tiger Balm. She would have been really, really upset if she had hurt her only friend and regular visitor. Not many phonies came out to see her. Clearly, it was their loss, because Wild Hunt thought she had a dazzling personality. "It takes a lifetime of dedication to get this good at martial arts. It would be like you trying to show me how to make herbal remedies; I could learn bits and pieces, but wouldn't be nearly as good at it." She smirked cockily, "So as long as you're okay with taking a few punches, we can practice some sparring. You have to at least be as good as this tree I'm training on now."
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:51 pm
"That’s why I said ‘some of that’ and not 'make me a Kung Fu Master'," Tiger Balm replied as she fluttered down to the ground and faced her teacher-to-be in a ready stance. "I just want a few good moves and a bit of practice." She met the cocky grin with a fierce no-nonsense scowl, hoping it correctly portrayed how serious she was about her request. She wasn't any useless piece of deadwood or some sissy girl that couldn't take a hit. "Give me your best shot."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 4:33 am
Wild Hunt was torn. Her natural response would have been to give her opponent a jab, a leg sweep, and then pin them on the ground. But not only was Tiger Balm a novice, but Wild Hunt liked her. But it also would have been very insulting for her to not give her best. If someone wants to learn how to fight, you can't go easy on them, or they'll never get better. "Okay," she said, "but you can't say that I didn't warn you..." And then she gave the other flutter a hard punch to the torso. "That's what happens when you leave your mid-section uncovered."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:33 pm
Tiger Balm took the hit as well as could be expected, which is to say she doubled over with a pained wheeze, clutched the spot that had just been punched and figured she probably should have expected that and at least braced for it. But she recovered from the blow without complaint… and immediately tried to smack Wild Hunt in return. It wouldn't do her any good to hold back and she already knew Wild Hunt was skilled enough to deal with her amateur attempt.
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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 6:24 pm
She felt really horrible for making her friend double over, but as Wild Hunt was about to apologize and make sure she was okay, Tiger Balm hit her with a surprise strike! Her hoof smacked into the side of her ribs, and the martial arts expert also leaned over more in shock than in any real pain. Mostly her pride was hurt. She should have been ready for that. Wild Hunt gritted her teeth, "Alright. Lesson one; always be prepared to defend yourself." The unspoken part of that sentence was 'unlike what I just did right now'. Leaving no time for recovery, she tried to do a chop to her sparing partner's neck.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:46 pm
Oh oops, she’d actually landed a blow. Tiger Balm flinched along with Wild Hunt but bit back the apology that instantly wanted to come forth. This was what she was here for after all. She nodded along with the lesson tip, noticing her friend hardly seemed pleased and wondering if maybe this hadn't been the best of ideas. When the next strike occurred, she was only partly ready. Ready enough for a quick evasive manoeuvre that involved an awkward flop backwards and the urgent flutter of her wings but not enough to avoid the attack entirely. Wild Hunt still landed a glancing blow to her shoulder and Tiger Balm ended up on her butt in the dirt.
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