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Post by Tebooleh on Oct 3, 2019 0:20:15 GMT -6
Tebooleh opened his eyes right before dawn. Then he yawned, blinked a few times... and sat up. He stretched his arms, rolled his shoulders... and grunted while rubbing the scarring that now covered his left shoulder. The twin pierce marks always ached in the morning... strangely the lines from when he'd been ripped into did not. With another grunt, he threw his sheets aside and turned to rise from the small bed that he slept in whenever he stayed at the Senbyō's tower. He slipped out from the sheets, and slipped into the loose trousers that were often called "sweatpants"... despite the fact that few used them to sweat. They were warm, though, a blessing that the tri-clops needed. Due to the tower's height, anywhere that a door or window was left open could expect icy-cold gusts of wind to blow and blow. Sometimes a cloud would pass through the platform in the center, as well, getting everything wet in addition to making things cold. Tebooleh had already been wearing a black A-shirt and more "modern" boxers as pajamas. Once he was up and on his feet, he turned to his window and watched the sun rise. The sky turned from black... to purple... while a brilliant flame of gold and crimson and orange spread and hugged the space around the horizon. The brilliant sun began to rise above the flame, and with it, the sky shifted again to blue... the reds faded, and the gold and orange blended together into a single shade of brilliant light. The tri-clops smiled just a little as he took in the sight. Before the sun had fully risen, however, he turned away from his window and grabbed the hooded sweatshirt he'd been given a lifetime ago. There was much to do.... First, his morning workout. This always took place on the platform out in the center of the tower, which was open to the air and sun. It probably had long ceased to actually exercise his muscles, but Tebooleh did it anyways out of habit. A thousand push-ups, a thousand sit-ups, a thousand pull-ups, a thousand lunges, a thousand jumping jacks... All done before he practiced his stances and strikes. Each position got a thousand repetitions as well. Along with each kick, punch, and chop. To keep himself a bit focused, Tebooleh imagined that he was hitting the snake-beast that had slaughtered his people... who had mysteriously disappeared after their fight. Just as his mother and father had... He banished those thoughts when he felt them slowing him down. He couldn't afford to fall behind time-wise... there was more to do than the maintenance of himself. As he always did whenever he stayed with the Senbyō, Tebooleh spent his morning cleaning and tidying up around the living areas below the platform. The empty bedrooms were dusted, those that were occupied and currently empty... were tidied up further. Any trash was collected into a small garbage bag. Food wrappers, takeout boxes, paper cups, and paper bags. All went in the trash. The cans and plastic containers were put in a recycling sack to be carried to the nearest town for sorting and pickup. Then the shelves and furniture were dusted, along with the windowsills. Carpeted rooms were vacuumed, tiled rooms were swept. Throw rugs were beaten with a rod after being hung out on a line over the forest below, to remove dust and crumbs. Finally, anywhere that dirt or muck was tracked in was scrubbed and washed. Carpets that had mud or sauce or whatever else dried into them were steam-cleaned. The load of dishes left to run the previous night were put away. Finally, the counters, table, and stove in the kitchen were all cleaned. The final component of his morning came around by that point. Making breakfast... Omelettes were always a good choice, he found. So he started up the stove, summoning a little blue flame with a *click* of a turning knob. Then came the pan, the cutting board, the knife, a grater, a whisk, the eggs, some plant-bits (spinach, tomato, and onion), cheese, and some sausages. He also started up a little rice-cooker that he'd once found buried in a distant corner. It would do to have something that went nice with the protein... What followed was a flurry of chopping, slicing, and sizzling as he worked. He poured olive oil into the skillet to start, something to keep the eggs from sticking (even non-stick pans could get covered with burned bits of egg sometimes). Then came plenty of egg... all whisked into a yellow batter that fried in the pan on a medium heat while Tebooleh quickly chopped up the spinach into shreds, the tomato into slices, and the onion into diced bits. He also heated up the sausages, though those he insta-cooked with a careful application of bright energy beams from his eyes. They were chopped into little slices as well. Before he threw all of these into the egg... he made sure to grate some cheese onto the surface of the egg, so that it would melt into a nice gooey layer that wrapped around sausage and veggie alike. While all of this was happening, he had rice steaming away in the cooker with some salt and pepper, which he also added to the omelette.... Once he was finished with the cooking, he cut the giant omelette in half. One half slid onto a clean plate that Tebooleh set on the little table in the kitchen. It was followed by a good scoop of hot, steaming rice... He then filled a glass with some water to set by the plate. A fork was laid over the omelette... However, the three-eyed man did not turn off the stove. Instead, he filled a kettle with some water and set it on to boil. As the water slowly heated up... he prepared a tea-pot with one of those little infusers (a metal dish with holes that looked almost like a miniature strainer) that he had stuffed with a blend that he'd found hidden away in a cupboard. That way, right when the kettle whistled clearly and sharply, he could pour the hot water right into the pot and have it steeping before the Senbyō woke up. Hopefully. If not, eh, at least the god of martial arts would have breakfast waiting for him. A perfect start to the day... the day when he would finally teach the tri-clops that strange fighting style of his with the odd claw-shaped punches and the cat-like crouches and poses. One-on-one. No distractions. Just sparring and training. Tebooleh chanted a quick blessing as he sat down to savor his half of the omelette and rice. Then he chomped and chewed as he waited for Nashi to wake up. He anticipated the start of a good training session, perhaps a series of training sessions! Outwardly, his eyes were half-lidded with his heavy and fuzzy eyebrows furrowed over top of them. And, as always, he wore a small and neutral frown on his lips. Tebooleh is ready to learn! After a quick breakfast.
Thread PL: 56,000Nashi |
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Post by Nashi on Oct 4, 2019 3:41:02 GMT -6
Nashi did not wake up as consistently as he might have liked. It was true, certainly, that he had his routine and (usually) he’d go back to sleep when he was done with it, the only real problem with this being that when he actually woke up (which had a sorta relationship with when he went back to sleep, of course) was highly variable, and the bits of video games Nashi would sometimes play before sleeping usually lasted until he lost a match and got the big sad.
The day prior, Nashi’s session of Turbo FighterZ went especially well. He didn’t lose a single game— well, no, he did eventually win, but he was asleep at the time after going long into the night having plenty of victories.
When Nashi woke up, he saw that his set-up has been cleared off to its proper space in the corner. He saw that the sofa was all clean and that the half-rusty sourceless tap of water was now a rustless sourceless tap of water. He looked around and saw… ”Oh, hey, Tebooleh.”
One of Nashi’s ears still hadn’t woken up. He stifled a yawn. ”What’s up?” 450k |
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Post by Tebooleh on Oct 7, 2019 1:16:10 GMT -6
In response to Nashi's question, Tebooleh gestured to the plate containing the Senbyō's breakfast, set at his usual place. Then he turned his hands to grabbing a pair of teacups... then the teapot... How great it would have been to have more than just two hands. As the tri-clops poured two piping hot cups of what he liked to call the "breakfast blend", he spoke.
"Breakfast. I thought it would be best to eat before our special training today."
Despite the excitement bubbling up deep within him, the young man showed nothing on his face. He just stuck another bit of egg into his mouth to munch and chomp before swallowing. Then he reached for his cup of tea. He held the cup up to his lips, then lightly blew over the surface to cool it a bit. Only once he'd puffed over it for a few good moments did the three-eyed man take a sip.
"I am looking forward to learning this "Leopard-Style Kung-Fu" that you practice."
He tried to finish his breakfast quickly after that, but politely. He kept his mouth closed while he chewed on his food, he was careful not to speak with his mouth full. He chewed his food thoroughly. He took small sips of his water and tea when he felt the need for it. And he also made sure to pass whatever Nashi needed or asked for. It would not do to show improper manners in a god's home, especially when one wished to learn from said god.
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Post by Nashi on Oct 7, 2019 21:23:33 GMT -6
”Oh, nice. Thanks!” Egg! Rice! Vegetables, cheese, sausages! It’s what a nutritionist might have called a complete diet, if the nutritionist weren’t very smart. Nashi dug in quickly; too quickly, his father would say, but after a moment Nashi remembered his lessons and slowed. ”Mmmm! As good as dad’s.” That was a lie: to Nashi, nothing could beat his dad’s cooking.
Nashi also, out of politeness, drunk some tea. There was a slight problem with this in that Nashi really didn’t like tea, but he tried his best to have at least one sip and pretend he didn’t hate it… but, he wasn’t the best actor, and an unmistakable involuntary wince appeared across his face for the slightest of moments.
Hmm? Oh, right.” Leopard Style Kung Fu! It let you punch at least as well as a leopard! There was still food in his mouth when he spoke, but at least he had practice in being understood while eating. ”My mum taught me the style years ago, when I was a baby.” Three years ago, it was. Nashi was three years old, fun fact. ”And she learnt it when she was travelling around, experiencing spiritual stuff and learning from mystical orders. It’s where she met dad.” ‘Dad’ being Monad, a magus of an ancient order invested in the natural order of things that the Senbyō was a part of. ”Though, I think she learnt the style before they met?” It was hard to remember, especially when it was an event that took place before you were born.
Nashi stared at his food for a moment. Then he finished in one quick gulp, and put it down with his water (which, before that point, he hadn’t even touched)! He stood up, ready for action! ”Right! Get into what you think an appropriate Leopard Style stance is!” |
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Post by Tebooleh on Oct 11, 2019 1:42:20 GMT -6
Tebooleh had a bit of a lead on Nashi when it came to his breakfast, since he'd started eating before the Senbyō woke up. He thus finished before Nashi did, and had some time to sip on his tea and properly savor the flavor while Nashi ate. The Senbyō, didn't enjoy tea... but Tebooleh definitely had a fondness for the stuff. He found it simultaneously relaxing and energizing, like a second round of meditation. He even had a little ritual for drinking it. He would hold the cup up to his lips with both of his hands, then stare at the reflections of the scenery around him. Everything was distorted on the shimmering, brown surface. He would only distort things further when he pursed his lips and blew, causing the surface to ripple and shimmer as he tried to cool it down. After a quick puff, he took a small sip. Then he began the whole process over again.
While he sipped, he listened to the words of the god of martial arts. Since he'd never actually asked the cat man his age, Tebooleh still assumed he was ancient beyond any mortal reckoning, as gods and spirits should be. Though, it didn't surprise him that Nashi had parents. Many gods were the result of divine unions between older deities. In fact, according to his own peoples' most ancient legends, the gusts that had whistled through the oasis were the sons of the Western Winds. Still, one had to wonder what sorts of gods got together to create the little blue cat man. Was one of them a cat? Both? Neither? Perhaps one of them was able to shift forms, and simply leaned towards the shape of a cat. As his mother had known the style of leopard kung-fu... and had apparently learned it from ancient, mystical orders... perhaps his mother had been some sort of goddess of the hunt or of warriors and combat. A deity that would both have the drive to temper and test themselves, yet humility that let them learn at the feet of a mortal (or immortal) master...
He was suddenly snapped from his pseudo-meditation when Nashi suddenly finished his meal and challenged him to his best Leopard Kung-Fu stance. Tebooleh had yet to properly learn any of the stances, so he simply did his best to imitate his master's poses. In a flash, he was leaping from his chair, across the kitchen, to land facing Nashi. As he landed, he extended his legs so that one was out and to the side behind him, while the other was stretched ahead of him, toward Nashi. His arms were bent at the elbow, while both of his hands were held out in an... approximation of Nashi's strange fist shape. But he hadn't quite bent the fingers right, and his thumb stuck out wrong. Then there were his feet. While the foot that he'd stretched "behind" him was facing the right direction, the foot that extended towards Nashi also pointed to him, rather than at a perpendicular angle to Tebooleh's own body. The leg was a bit overextended, as well.
"I do hope we are not planning on performing combat training in the kitchen... I just finished organizing everything yesterday."
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Post by Nashi on Oct 14, 2019 2:51:31 GMT -6
Nashi had his own ritual when it came to drinking tea, except he only did it when the tea had milk in it, so much milk that it was entirely milk without any tea in it. The trick to it was that he’d begin drinking and finish when there was no milk left— and not an instant before!
Nashi looked at Tebooleh’s imitation of the standard Leopard Style martial stance with rapt attention. ”I must admit,” he started, ”I don’t remember all that much of my martial arts training. I’d been flinging around both Leopard Blows and staffs since I had a diaper. Maybe before?” In a sense, he was a natural at it, almost having an innate predisposition towards fighting towards birth. But perhaps it would have been better to say that, instead of having been born good at fighting, he was simply born with a degree of precocity that allowed his parents to teach him his dedication and fighting spirit.
”It’s a bit like riding a bike.” Nashi remembered that he didn’t know how to ride a bike. ”Actually, no, it’s like typing one’s shoelaces!” There, that was more his speed. He was so proud when he managed to tie his shoelaces without looking for the first time, and more than a bit distraught when the knots undid themselves a few minutes later. ”You don’t ever actually know how to tie your shoelaces, not on a conscious level. You put it in your muscle memory and ya just do it.” Where was I going with this? I swear I was building up to something. OH! ”So, I’ll have to imitate the Leopard and compare…”
Nashi moved into the Leopard Kung Fu Style himself. On a surface level, it was similar to Tebooleh’s stance, but if you looked any deeper into it one would quickly realise the scene would make for a good ‘spot the differences’ puzzle, where the differences were basically everything and the similarities were number of limbs and eye— no, not that, never mind.
Nashi looked at the attempt before him. ”Right.” Nashi brought out the Power Pole and, for a moment, pointed it at Tebooleh’s foot before making slight pushes against them in certain positions to correct his footings, if he didn’t resist. ”Hmm. And…” He’d look at Tebooleh’s stance a bit and would fix differences when he saw them, rather often going back into his stance to compare truly. But then came the important part: the configuration of hands in the infamous, mega really cool Leopard Blow (trademark pending)! ”Not sure how to describe it…” Neither was the narrator, to be fair. ”… But it should be like this.” He moved his hand into a Leopard fist, for Tebooleh to follow.
No combat training in the kitchen? ”Aw, why not? It just means we don’t have to move far to get snacks.” |
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Post by Tebooleh on Oct 22, 2019 18:05:44 GMT -6
Tebooleh felt a bit of his brain shut down after he heard Nashi's explanation. Typing your shoe laces? Who typed on their shoe- ...D-Did... did the Senbyō not know how to tie his shoes? Because the tri-clops could remember both of the methods that he was taught, his first master and his father had both used different methods. There was the bunny-ears technique, where you formed a pair of "ears" with the laces, one ear per hand. Following that, you would fold one of the two ears over the other, before sliding them into knot that was relatively tight. Then there was the method where you made a single "ear" before wrapping the other lace over and around before sliding through to-... The point was that Tebooleh could remember how to tie his shoes if he thought hard enough. So the fact that the Senbyō could not was... Unless...
Perhaps Nashi meant that nobody recalled the full process when they tied their shoes. They just relied on rote and muscle memory to perform the motion quickly. Just as he did when he tied his shoes up. Or when he sent a strike towards an opponent. Yes, clearly that was what the Senbyō meant when he gave his advice to Tebooleh. Or, at least, that was what the tri-clops interpreted his message as being. He was pleased with himself that he managed to parse the lesson through some of the confusing wording. Though he still had trouble wrapping his head around the sheer amount of time that must have passed since the god of martial arts was young. If gods were ancient, and there were times before they even fully remembered things, then such times must have been far back indeed. Perhaps before his people had ever settled the deserts, if not earlier.
Through that entire process of parsing and pondering, his face didn't change expression. He did, however, give Nashi a side-eye as the cat man inspected his stance, waiting for the slaps or the thwacks for getting things wrong. The blows never came. Instead, his body was gently prodded into the proper position by a gentle push of Nashi's pole. He didn't resist the corrections, partially because he was bewildered. Then, all three of Tebooleh's eyes narrowed and focused on the cat-man's hand as it shifted into the Leopard Fist. He studied every movement that those fingers made until they were clenched to look almost like a cat's paws, with the nubs of claw poking out. Once he'd studied it, he slooooowly folded his thumb and fingers inwards, until they mirrored Nashi's hand. Finally, he spoke...
"My Senbyō, I would rather not have to fix the kitchen up after having finally gotten it to a tolerable level of cleanliness..." He paused, then glanced to the cabinets and the stove.
"I can make us snacks after a bit of training, and maybe prepare some extra. To take outside with us after our first break."
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Post by Nashi on Nov 17, 2019 22:04:17 GMT -6
Tie, type, whatever, they were basically the same thing. In respect to the tying of shoelaces, Nashi himself was a proponent of the style in which you tied your shoelaces. He didn’t know what it was called, nor could he describe it, but it had a few thingos going in and out of each other with twists and stuff… but, well, at least he could do it. Not that he needed to, of course, given his laceless footwear.
Nashi looked over to the kitchen. Wait, the Tower has a stove? The Tower always had a stove, it just never really looked like it until it was cleaned so impeccably. Otherwise, it looked like just another bit of bench/cabinet/generic continuous furniture that happened to have some knobs and doo-dads about it. ”Er, all right, sure.” Snack later? Yeah, sure, he could deal with that. Nashi wasn’t all that hungry, but the promise of food was pressing on his mind. If he didn’t want to become hungry, it would be wise to start focusing on something else pretty quickly.
”OK, let’s head upstairs!” Fun fact: despite how little Nashi used it for anything, the Abode upon the Lookout did not have simply one storey. It had the downstairs, mostly contained, which Nashi liked using because it had actual walls and amenities and stuff, but it also had the upstairs, outside in a sense, which was much more open and free. Connecting the two were some stairs on the exterior of the Abode. Regardless to say, Nashi dashed up in a fraction of a fraction of the time it’d take one to say ‘soup’. With any luck, Tebooleh would know what Nashi meant by ‘upstairs’— hopefully he wouldn’t think Nashi was referring to the Lookout. if Tebooleh did find his way, Nashi placed himself opposite Tebooleh on the circular platform that the upstairs was and entered a generic, store-brand martial stance. ”OK. First, become the Leopard.” By which he meant, of course: assume the position that Leopard Kung Fu favoured.
”By the way, you don’t have to call me Senbyō all the time. Just call me ‘Nashi’.” |
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Post by Tebooleh on Nov 25, 2019 1:04:47 GMT -6
Tebooleh sighed with relief as Nashi saw the wisdom of his words. Or, rather, perhaps recognized how much harder it was for a mortal to keep their living space clean than it was for a god. Especially with how much mess the cat made... He followed the cat up the stairs to the open area of the tower. He wasn't really aware that the Lookout even existed, nobody had told him about it. He just knew that sometimes Nashi went up above the top of the tower to a place where he felt a mighty power level alongside Nashi's.
Once he was on the platform, the tri-clops took his place opposite the cat boy. Then, as ordered, he adopted the stance that he had earlier. This time, however, he made sure that it included the corrections that Nashi had given him. Once he was in position, he responded to his master's request with a light nod. Though... just to be safe... he kept his third eye locked onto Nashi, even as his other two eyes dipped down with his nodding head.
"As you wish, Master Nashi."
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Post by Nashi on Nov 30, 2019 22:51:04 GMT -6
Eh? ‘Master Nashi? It was something! Better be called that than nothing at all, or whatever. Nashi was mostly happy that at least a bit of the ceremony, the over-respectfullness, had been taken out of it. And, besides, ‘Master’ wasn’t all that bad at all! He was pretty sure Suri called him that, too. Maybe, one day, he’d get it down to ‘Nashi-sensei’, or just ‘Nashi’! That is, presuming he didn’t die in the near future for whatever reason.
”Right!” How should I do this? His first thought was to liken what a Leopard Kung Fu practitioner would do to what a leopard would do, given that supposedly the martial style had developed in imitation of the leopard, but the style did a lot of things that leopards didn’t do. Like, for instance, ‘block', and do weird things with your fingers.
”I don’t know how much you know of kung fu in general, but the Leopard style isn’t like that other big cat one. Where that is strength, this is dexterity. While that uses brute force, this uses being really cool.” Leopard kung fu required a sort of diligence, and patience, and the sort of well-mastered self-control Nashi lacked in basically everything beyond his fighting. In that sense, it was sort of like swimming or learning a language: if Nashi hadn’t learnt it growing up, he mightn’t have ever learnt it at all. Or, if he tried, he’d have broken his finger and given up in turn for an easier martial style with less potential for injury, even if it meant not being as good at fighting.
”The basis of it is the Leopard Blow. Or the Leopard Fist, if you don’t happen to be hitting anyone with it at the time.” Nashi made his Leopard Fist glow a bit with blue energy, just in case Tebooleh somehow didn’t know where to look. ”Whack it against a wall and you might just end up with a sore hand, or a broken finger.” Or perhaps not! Tebooleh was very strong, it would probably crumble the wall and leave his hand all safe and dandy. But, still, the sentiment stood. ”What you want to do is, when you get the opportunity, whack it somewhere important. A weak spot, a vital, something like that. The skull, the solar plexus, the neck, one of the joints, maybe even the groin… though, er, don’t try that last one on me!” Classy. ”Don’t be discouraged if the slightest mistake leads to injury, either. I’ve got senzu beans!” Nashi remembered when he was catering to his senzu bonsai that morning. ”… Senzu bean, singular, but still.”
Oh no! There was still more to cover! Hopefully the author didn’t get anything wrong about Leopard kung fu by writing entirely from memory and without internet access! ”And you can’t just do this at every other occasion. You need an opportunity! But don’t worry, I know where to find those. Frankly, I should have gone over this first…” Retrospectively, that would have been far better.
Nashi made a few paces forwards, into melee range with Tebooleh. ”One of the principle tenets of Leopard kung fu is that there is no such thing as a block. You do not block. Maybe you ‘block’,” he said, breaking the Leopard Fist to do the airquotes sign, ”but you don’t block, ya know? Because whenever anyone makes a strike against you, well, you just strike their strike! Cancel it out! Maybe it hurts you as much as it hurts them, but who cares? You’ve lived through pain before, and if you hurt the bad guy all you need to do is keep doing that and you win! But do you know what the best bit is?”
Nashi’s pawed right hand was right near his face, while his left hand was lower, closer to his chest. ”While the upper hand just ‘blocked’ by striking a strike, your lower hand has the perfect opportunity to make the Leopard Blow against an unguarded vital!” While aggressive, it was also rather reactive. You wait for the opponent to make a big play, and immediately after punish them for having the nerve to attempt such a thing. It was this general strategy, combined with a bucketload of trauma, that created the Blue Bro Behemoth and lead to Nashi’s conceptualisation of the Blue Bro Back At Ya. It was also something Nashi was trying to get out of: it wasn’t an especially great counter to other reactive or defensive fighters, and those fights usually went on for too long without enough going on.
”So, let me just…” Nashi shook out of the Leopard kung fu stance and tried to make his footing as generic as possible as he tried to make a punch towards Tebooleh as a slow, rough approximate of his power.
Very rough approximate.
"Do the leopard thing!" |
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