Morning After the Clash - Jy 31 MT 3rd Mark - Frank's House

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:18 pm

Frank laid in his bed, aching from the night before. I really pushed my limits. I can't believe Ralph is gone... Such brutality. I can't imagine why people hate us so much, though we gave them a pretty good reason last night. I still haven't told my father. Man, I'm not looking forward to that.

Frank sat up slowly, making a lot of noise as he did. His muscles were much more sore than they usually were after sleeping off a hard day's work. He had to get back to the Waterworks Yard at some point, but he either didn't remember when or James didn't specify. The night before was a bit of a blur. He looked out of his window. Beyond the tree outside it stood the Military Garrison. His father picked this location for one reason or another, but as far as Frank knew he'd never crossed the street. Come to think of it, I never really knew what dad does when I'm off at work. He probably just runs around scaring people.

Their house was only one story tall, but had a pretty big basement that Frank's father had made. He never went down there, and feared to imagine what his father used it for, but he didn't really care. His father was a generally good man, and Frank trusted that he probably wasn't doing anything too fucked up. The lumbering half-giant was achin' for some baking, so he walked into the kitchen to see if his mother had anything on the fire. Not realizing that he was still wearing his blood-soaked outfit from the day before, he scratched his butt and said:

"Mornin' ma."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:15 pm

Frank's mother barely flinched when she saw him strewn with blood. It was unusual for Frank, but at first glance she assumed it was his father. "Mornin'. Wait, son?" She realized who she was talking to and her eyes grew wide. She had a large pot over the fireplace that she was stirring, and her hair was braided in with beads down and over her shoulders. "What the fuck were yah up to last night, boy? Ya look like ya slayed a damned dragon! I should whoop you for not tellin' me where you were!"

The air smelled like boiling potatoes, carrots and other assorted vegetables. A newly dead and beheaded sort of poultry lay on the table, still with some traces of blood on it, but for the most part cleaned out and plucked. "I thought ya were takin' from my side of the family, boy!" And just as she managed to spit that out, her hubby walked in from outside, wearing nothing but hard leather armor, chaps and a coif, with a loincloth underneath.

This half-giant's muscles were horrifying when flexed, and even when relaxed, they wrapped tightly and thickly around his shoulders, arms, thighs, calves and chest, and if one were to tap his skin, those muscles would not yield. Scars lined his arms, from taking slicing blows to his meaty forearms, as he had the much sought-after ability to block weak bladed attacks as easily as punches, and occasionally, the leather armor wasn't enough. When that happened, usually his rough leathery skin and dense muscles picked up the slack. One fierce scar was on the side of his neck, running diagonally up to his lower lip. Each of his scars had a fascinating story tied to them, and Frank had heard all of them except for that one, on his neck and face, as it was most likely a story of failure, which he didn't want to share. Built like a rock, Mortuk was a celebrated hero from Amun Rah, who saw many battles won, and trained many pupils. Frank, on the other hand, had a reputation for having somewhat of a mushy heart, and shaky knees towards a fight, and therefore his father was elated to see this finally wasn't true.

"'Hey my boy, were you fightin' in the Broken Blade Arena? Yer gonna lose yer damned head in there! C'mere!" Ironically, Frank's father was the more eloquent of the two, since his mother was one of the exceedingly rare stay at home mothers from Amun-Rah. His thick accent aside, his vocabulary was very good, and as a leader in Amun-Rah, he was a rather charismatic fellow among half-giants. In the sight of humans, his mighty appearance tended to turn heads however, and in Roque he wasn't quite as smooth a talker as he was in Amun.

He grinned widely as he saw Frank's gruesome condition and he gave him a tight hug, squeezing the air out of him and cracking his back. "Atta boy! Now tell me, don't spare any of the details! What happened?"

"Mortuk! Don't congratulate him, we should be punishing him!" Frank's naggy mother shouted at her husband as if he were a disobedient child.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 6:11 pm

Frank flickered a half-smile at his mother, and was elated that there was food on the table. She used to nag him to be tough almost more than the Mortuk, but within the past two yahren she'd come to his side. Sadly, the day had come where he had to appeal to his father's dreams. He looked at the terrifying image of his father. I only wish I could have him solve this case for me, but my father wouldn't work for an orc midget, he'd laugh if I even asked.

"Actually mom, it was just an orc. An orc and a dark adhiel. I left the dark elf alive though. I'm starving! Can I have this bird?" After spitting out the news he'd hoped to make light of it, and he reached for the bird with greedy hands. Even though he desperately needed his father's training, he still wasn't used to the idea of hurting people. The orc was a monster, and he felt no guilt for killing him. However, should he become a fighter of sorts, he might have to make tougher choices.

When his dad addressed him though, he knew better to withhold information. His father would get it out of him one way or another, and probably use the blood on his shirt as an excuse to be merciless. As the breath was forced out of his lungs, along with it went a few mustered words. "I have a job... I need your help."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:52 pm

Mortuk smacked Frank's greedy hands with immediacy. "No, you don't get food until we're done! You've proven yourself worthy of training, but your still a mushy wreck of a fighter! We're going to the basement and we aren't eating until you're a fighter like your old man!" He strutted over to the basement door with only two huge strides, and he thanked his lucky stars they got a house with a high cieling, for he was an even eight feet, and Frank was almost as tall as well- though the boy had a little more growing yet to do. With a tight grip he clutched Frank's hand and he pulled him towards the door, opening it and shoving him in.

"Try not to kill each other!" His mum said, and Frank could hear her chopping vegetables against a wooden surface. The basement was poorly lit, intentionally, and it was wide open with plenty of room for combat. Along the ground there were small holes with little mounts surrounding them, like a lightpost stand, but there were no lightposts. Their intent was clear however if Frank managed to spot that in the corner there were a series of dummies on stands, with metal bars hanging off of their limbs. There were a few about the size of a human, a couple thin and short ones near elvish size, and there was even a two foot tall dummy, but it didn't look very beat up.

"It's time you learned just like all of my pupils back home, my boy."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 10:43 pm

Frank's stomach screamed for food, and he looked longingly at the stew as he rubbed his throbbing hand. I really need food, but I may as well get this over with before I do. He followed his father but halted when he saw the basement door, only to be yanked and shoved through it. He wasn't about ready to see what he assumed was his father's dungeon, but he didn't have much of a choice.

He landed on the floor, staring at the ground beneath his feet. He hesitated to look up, but when he did, he gave a sigh of relief. A sparring room. That's not so bad.

He rose to his feet and then spoke to his father. "Pupils? I knew you fought for the army, but you had students? I had no idea... What did you do in the army?" He knew his father could teach him, but he vastly underestimated his ability to do so. With his excitement, he forgot all about the story of last night that he was supposed to tell him. His father likely was excited enough that the details might not matter. He was going to teach his son to fight.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:45 am

"Alright, boy, listen up. First we're going to warm you up, before I teach you any tricks." The half giant's father disregarded everything Frank said, for he was only concerned with one thing right now- turning his boy into a war machine like himself.

"You can start off by doing pushups and by stretching out your muscles. I'll walk you through that, since I know you haven't done any orthodox Amunian exercise." Expecting Frank to drop and start right away with his pushups, Mortuk prepared a few dummies in their assorted spots. He spent two burns setting up one elf, and one human.

"Okay, cross your arm over your neck like this. You can't stretch it over your chest because the barrlechest that comes with the family prevents that from any sort of effectiveness. Once you've finished that, you scratch your back and push your elbow down to stretch your tricep, like this..." Frank's dad led him through just about every muscular stretch, from the fingertips to the calves, to the back. His warmup was thorough, and if Frank followed his lead correctly, his body would feel loosened up, less sore, and capable of much more than it usually was.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:16 pm

Frank's stomach roared from hunger, but he ignored it. Nothing was going to feed him now until his father was satisfied. He hit the deck with a grunt, making a lot of noise when he moved. His body ached as if he hadn't rested in years. If this is how I feel after sleep I'm really glad dad didn't catch me last night. He wouldn't even have let me take off my tool belt.

He did twenty push-ups with decent form - straight arms and a straight back - and then rolled on his back to look up at the ceiling, imitating his father's instructions without standing up. He pushed his arm against his chest until it hurt, and it showed in his face. After this stretch he did a kick-up and performed the tricep stretch. He tried to keep his arm as straight behind his shoulder as he could, while still pushing it really hard. His aches began to fade after the stretches, and he was reassured that his father was an experienced trainer. This might actually be fun.

He only hoped his father wouldn't make him spar.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:33 pm

"Alright son, I'm going to teach you something now. You're going to learn the proper form for a giant punch." He propped the human dummy up with the two metal bars, and he pulled back his arm, running parallel with his shoulders and tilted slightly up. The arm was fully extended, and the fist was tight. "To fully utilize the momentum of your superior weight, you keep your arm extended and use the greater armlength you have for more force. Like this." He slowly moved his arm in a perfect semicircular arc toward the head of the dummy, and touched his knuckles to the cheek. He pushed his arm past it and followed through, crossing his arm around until his knuckles touched his neck. "A good follow through gives you a second chance to attack in case you miss. If you hit, and you do it right, you won't need a second attack. Observe."

He pulled back his arm once more and he swung it around with great speed. Whongo! The dummy flew into the wall and the wall itself cracked with the force of it smashing into it. "See? No human or elf will be walking around after a giant-punch. Now you try." He walked over and recovered the dummy, putting it back into place.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:18 am

Frank jumped a little bit as the dummy went flying. He looked at his fist, and made a slow swinging motion to simulate it. It makes sense, but something is wrong...

"Father, with all due respect, wouldn't an elf see that coming from a mile away? It looks powerful, but I don't understand how it could be done swiftly without warning."

He stretched an arm past his chest one more time, and then wound up his fist, swinging it along a path of a 180 degree parabola. He swung his shoulders and heaved his upper torso to attempt to add effect. "Hurghya!"

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:18 am

Frank jumped a little bit as the dummy went flying. He looked at his fist, and made a slow swinging motion to simulate it. It makes sense, but something is wrong...

"Father, with all due respect, wouldn't an elf see that coming from a mile away? It looks powerful, but I don't understand how it could be done swiftly without warning."

He stretched an arm past his chest one more time, and then wound up his fist, swinging it along a path of a 180 degree parabola. He swung his shoulders and heaved his upper torso to attempt to add effect. "Hurghya!"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:22 am

The dummy was not hit head-on, but Frank still managed to knock it out of the stand. It fell about three paces away from the stand, and Mortuk's head shook as his son questioned him. "Trust me, son. The giant-punch is not a primary attack, you see. It is a secondary attack, that is to be used while your opponent is preoccupied with your primary attack. Our family has strong muscles and swift arms, and with that, it isn't difficult to overwhelm an enemy. Elves are tricky, yes, but if you are swinging an uppercut toward his head, and you calculate where he's going to dodge to, you can knock him out cold as easy as that." He grabbed the dummy and placed it back in the stand.

"Now, you are going to try to catch him off guard." As he said this he waited for Frank to doubt him again. He was proud of his toys, and he was enjoying the opportunity to use them. "'But father, how can a dummy parry or dodge my attacks'- you might ask, well I'll show you." He grasped the metal bars that were attached to the dummy's arms, and he held them up, as if he was a marionette-master.

"Go ahead, try to pull off the giant-punch. It'll take awhile, for you'll have to analyze your enemies habits. All fighters have tendencies, and you have to live long enough, and keep them busy enough the learn them, and exploit them. That is key to mastering the art of combat as I have."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:05 pm

"I understand, it's a set-up attack that you execute when you're enemy has a moment of exposure." He watched his father set up the next example, and he was impressed. Silly as it was that his father got so excited about this, it truly was a marvel. He was a master of combat, and a master of training. If only he could take my place...

Uppercutting was too obvious. He couldn't start with a move his father had used as an example. Instead, he decided to try to bring up his right hand from his left side to smack it, using the follow through to turn into one of the epic punches he'd just attempted to learn how to use. He failed to account for the recoil time of his fist winding up behind his back, and sort of imagined it would double the effect by using an attack to create a grand wind-up for the real punch.

"Here goes!"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:15 pm

Frank's initial attack missed, as did the second attack. Grinning like a madman, his father pulled the dummy back and then down, simulating the enemy moving back and ducking. "Come on, Frank, you'll have to be more crafty then that, your initial attack was almost as obvious as the giant-punch!"

"Do something nobody would expect from a half-giant. Meaty powerstrikes are what every foe you face will expect, wise or foolish, because indeed they are core to our fighting style. What they won't expect is the strategic genius and swiftness that is so unexpected and that I expect you to use. Unpredictability is essential."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:05 pm

Frank's eyebrows furrowed. I can't imagine how hard fighting my old man himself would be. I'll have to try something new... Something that will make him expect a recovery where I can put my second attack.

He tried punching it head on a few times, just jabs from in front of his chest until he could try to notice some sort of pattern. Then he threw a fist horizontally, with less drawback than the giant punch. If his enemy ducked he'd swing his right hand down over his shoulder, knuckling the dummy on the head, and then he'd attempt to deliver a knee to the face.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:35 am

Frank missed with all of his attacks, but as he was analyzing, a pattern was present. Whenever a blow was coming from above Frank's waistline, the dummy would evade backwards and then duck out of the way of the following attack. Whenever a blow came from below Frank's waistline, the dummy would evade to the side and then evade backwards.

"Come on, boy! You gotta pay attention!"

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:39 am

The oaf was beginning to get upset. He'd tried everything he knew how to do and none of it worked. After his frustration lost its vigor, he began to notice a few trends in the movements of the doll. Hmm, I think I'm starting to catch on a little bit... maybe he's just repeating the pattern to toy with me, or to give me an example... Here goes!

He threw an overhand punch from about shoulder-height, and following the backward retreat of the dummy he lunged forward and threw his knuckles on his right hand down from above as hard as he could, hoping to punish the ducking maneuver. He turned his fist into a palm and attempted to grab the neck of the dummy and rip it away from the grasp controlling it, hurling it into the wall on his left. In order to lunge fast enough to counter the duck in time, he threw his entire center of gravity into his upper body, leaving no support other than his fist hitting the doll. If he hit, he'd blast it and restore his balance. If he missed, he'd fall flat on his face.

"HIT!"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:36 am

Crack!

"Atta boy!"

Frank's maneuver worked perfectly, and the dummy would be most upset if it had feelings. He successfully thwarted the duck and bashed it from above, and it slumped over - due to a rather skilled master - to represent the unconsciousness that it would be suffering. Frank could easily grab it around the neck and when he pulled it, it was torn from his father's puppeteering poles, and it flew against the wall, smashing into assemblable pieces.

"Good boy. You can beat a human, but can you beat an elf? They are much quicker usually, and it's quite a pain in the ass to try to hit them."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:53 am

Frank watched the doll smash against the wall. Would he have ever done that to a living creature?

Fiddlesticks! Father is doing a good job of making me act impulsively out of anger... I'm not sure this is going to be a good thing. Then again, it might be exactly what I need... This is going to be a long morning- I'm so hungry!

The meatheaded oaf wasn't looking forward to a quicker foe. "Dad... When are you going to start teaching me moves and stuff? This feels like good practice, but I don't see the point. Real opponents don't follow patterns like that do they?" Only knowing about three moves and only having killed in a berserk frenzy, it wasn't too hard for Frank to imagine getting repetitive for himself, but an experienced fighter surely couldn't be so base!

I just want to learn to think the way I did on that boat. Maybe I can ask Dad about that...

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 6:11 am

"Son, you aren't going to learn any tricks until you understand the art of fighting itself. Yes, all fighters have tendencies- that is a fact. They will not all be 'patterns', but you are still a beginner at reading and exploiting these tendencies, which is why that seemed so easy." The warrior donned the poles for the adhiel dummy and propped it up.

"If you want to see a cool move, try and punch me in the chest. If you want to stick to my lessons, then come at the dummy."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:17 am

Frank shook his head after looking at the adhiel doll. I'm going to get my rump roasted, but I'd be completely demolished if I went after the old man. He knows best... I'll have to stick to this boring stuff. I'll ask him about the anger thing later.

Frank struck a combat pose that he felt looked cool and might be a useful stance, but in reality he may as well be standing on his toes. He doesn't know much of combat or advantages positions. This is why he's here to learn.

"Bring on the doll."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:29 pm

"Aye, I thought you'd be reasonable. First though, I gotta tell you that your fighting stance is just stupid." He put his right leg in front of his left so they were about shoulderwidth apart, but angled 45 degrees perpendicular to said shoulders. He lifted one of his massive arms in front of him and held the other pulled slightly back.

"Here's an easy one. You can parry attacks from weaker foes, you got a strong grip on the ground, and you got your main arm for hittin' folk with. This is a beginner stance, but that doesn't mean you can't kick ass with it."

After he showed Frank the stance, he fetched the adhiel doll and placed it in the stand. He danced it around a bit to get used to the lighter dummy, and then he tensed up, and nodded. "Alright Frankie, ready when you are."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:34 pm

Frank posed in the mirror image of his father's stance, with his left foot in front. No point even being defensive about his insults, because he's right. Everything I do is probably stupid. I have to wipe my mind clean and start from scratch.

Frank leaned down to touch his toes to stretch his calf muscles. They bother him more than his other leg muscles because he always forgets to stretch them, and when he swims they always tense up and bother him. He'd been making a point to try to limber them out for the long run, since he's getting healthy and strong now, it's as good a time as any.

He stood back up and resumed the stance, with his hands balled up in fists.

"I'm ready when you are old man!"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:04 pm

"Alright, boy. This opponent is going to be lithe and quick, not easy to hit even with fast attacks. Therefore, I want you to attempt to strike him dead with any combination of attacks. The only restriction that I give, is that my trademark giant-punch be the final blow in the combo. If you can do that, your lesson for today will be done, and you'll be a novice-level warrior, at about entry level for the Amunian army. I got faith in you, because even if you are a bit squishy, it runs in your blood. I'm willing to bet you felt that whenever that stuff happened last night."

He tensed and leaned down a bit, tightening his grip on the bars of his puppet. "But we'll discuss that later, you aren't ready to work with that at this point."

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:56 am

Frank looked around for any kind of tool to help him hit the puppet, but he shook off the temptation. That wouldn't prove anything.

This time he decided to take a more audacious approach, knowing full well that he would have trouble landing a punch. He took a lunge slightly to the left of the doll and made a sweeping motion with his arm trying to grab the waist of the creature. He assumed it wouldn't hit, but he had to start some time so that he could expose the pattern of the doll. As soon as his swipe missed he turned to face whichever direction the doll would move next.

If I want to eat, I have to get this done! I have to finish with the giant punch! The meathead grabbed his stomach and faltered for a second, clenching his left eye to relieve his now aching thick skull. Hungry... He weakly resumed the stance, running out of calories to burn for the sake of fighting.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:07 pm

Frank's miniature opponent was actually caught by his swinging arm. The fatherly behemoth tried to pull it out of the way, but Frank's clumsy reach went too far, and compensated grabbing the torso. The mecha-adhiel started wiggling free immediately, and Frank didn't have long to execute his finishing blow.

"Remember the technique I demonstrated."