Scene #4126: Cats and Dogs. Round 1. FIGHT!

Owner	Pose
Kazuko Kawakami	It's a night like any other at the Ring of Philosophy, with Kazuko smacking around a training dummy with her (blunted) naginata and dashing between them as they pop out of the ground. It's like a life-sized version of whack a mole, and it certainly seems to be gettingh er pumped up for... Something! Exercise is exercise, and the martial artist needs to keep up with her training. That's the only way she'll keep up with all the new recruits and her recently returned sister, after all!
Silica	"Pina, calm down." comes a young sounding voice from the entry corridor. A head pops out to peek around, caramel-coloured ears twitching at sounds, before the girl fully enters the arena to watch the Naginata-using martial artist at work. "Woooooow." This is Silica, 5'2" of Cait Sith, who'd be about 20lbs soaking wet, though her Avatar is considerably light anyway. "Is that who I'm sparring against?" she asks noone, before she opens her menu to check her equipment is set right. She stands out, not only with the cat ears and twitching tail, but the dark blue outfit with gleaming enambled breastplate and shoulder dragon. Pina looks anxious. Well, as anxious as a virtual AI pet can look. It's looking around as if searching for enemies. Probably a preprogrammed behaviour. It might consider this a Dungeon, after all.
Kazuko Kawakami	Kazuko pauses in mid swing at the sound of a familiar voice, sparing the lucky training dummy from getting whacked about the head section and letting it zip back underground. Turning towards Silica, the 5'3" high schooler flashes her a broad grin before raising her free hand in a light wave. Apparently, the doggy nickname isn't just for show if she could hear her approach so easily. "Hi there! Ooh... You're Silica, right?" Practically bounding over as if she hadn't been exercising this whole time, she peers at the Cait Sith curiously while lingering on Pina and circling around the two with a curious glint in her eyes. "Ooh... Your outfit's so cool! Is this a copy of your ALO clothes or something? Is that your pet? Are those ears real?" She chatters on at a mile a minute, apparently getting a little.. Overexcited. Silica's a new friend, after all!
Silica	Silica shrinks away a little from SUDDENLY EXCITED PUPPY PERSON right in her personal space. "Um... This /is/ my ALO avatar, so... these are my gear and equipment." she begins. "This is Pina, she's Feathered Little Dragon that I tamed myself." Pina watches Kazuko with the beady eyed glare of a defensively set companion. "And 'real' in so much as this is a virtual body, not my real one." she finishes, those ears twitch twitching and her tail coil flicking a couple of times.
Kazuko Kawakami	"Ohhh, right! You talked about that. Hmmn. So..." Kazuko trails off as her eyes start to light up. The gears are turning in her head, for better or for worse, but at least she's not acting on whatever it is she's thinking about. "Cool... Man, I really gotta play that some time, then." It may or may not be a little more obvious what she's thinking already. Silica's ear and tail movements don't go unnoticed, and they just draw a surprised 'awww' from the martial artist. "That's so cute...! Er. So!" She clears her throat and straightens up abruptly, trying to look taller than she really is as her expression shifts to a slightly more serious one. "Are you here for training or sparring? Because... You said you weren't that good at fighting up close, right?" The gears are turning again.
Silica	"Well, I'm good with a dagger. I'm at just under 900/1000 in Dagger skill, so.." replies Silica to that question. "I've just found I work better in a support position, making an opening for someone else to get the killing blow in." She reaches up, and gently pets Pina on the top of the head, seemingly breaking that glaring trance. "Don't be rude Pina." she chides the dragonling, before opening her menu, Nothing visible to the naked human eye, before a small pouch appears in her left hand. A peanut is extracted, and offered to her pet, who munches it happily before nuzzling her cheek. "Hehe, you're welcome." Back to matters at hand, the Cait Sith taps her cheek. "Lets start out with a sparring match... then if you think I need more training, we can do something like that?"
Kazuko Kawakami	"Ooh... I don't think I've fought anyone that uses those before." Kazuko's sounding excited already just from that, and the mention of fighting as a supporter actually draws an intrigued look from the girl. "That kinda makes sense... You look kinda small, but I bet you'd be really good at distracting people!" She might still be staring at Silica's ears. Not for too long, though, since her attention shifts to the peanut pouch when it just appears out of thin air. Chalking that up as an ALO thing, she giggles lightly at Pina's reaction to the food before nodding at Silica. "That sounds good! Yeah, that'll give me a better idea of what my new student's capable of." Getting a little ahead of herself, but at least she's enthusiastic about it. Stepping back towards the controls of the Ring, she taps a few buttons, and the whole arena shifts into something a little grassier! It's the classic GRASSY FIELD IN THE MOONLIGHT. The wind is blowing, there's not a cloud in the sky, and a few trees and rocks dot the landscape to act as impromptu cover or things to jump off of. The martial artist gives her naginata a well-practiced twirl overhead, then holds it at her side and bows to Silica before settling into a combat-ready stance. "Kazuko Kawakami, ready to fight. It's nice to meetcha, Miss Silica!"
Silica	Silica watches the world change around her. She's played VRMMOs for a long time now, so that doesn't really get her attention, her focus is wholly on Kazuko. Eyes gleaming unnaturally for a few moments while she twirls that naginata, then takes her stance. She reaches back to the sheathed dagger on her hip, drawing it before holding it in front of her defensively. "Silica, the Beast Tamer." she replies, smiling politely. "It is a pleasure." She then blinks, looking confused for a moment, before seeming to realize esomething. "Oh, before we begin... does anything go? Like, can we use Magic or Items... or only weapons?"
Kazuko Kawakami	Now it's Kazuko's turn to get confused! "Eh? Um... Magic's good, too! Items... I mean, if you have it with you, I guess it's okay." The martial artist blinks slowly as if trying to process how that works. Her eyes take on that curious glint again after not too long. "Ohhh... ALO's got healing items like in those RPGs, right? I know this place fixes us up after we're done fighting if we get hurt, but I don't know if it gives you back stuff like that. " She taps a finger to her chin. "I guess you probably won't wanna use anything too expensive... You gotta save those for the boss fights, right?"
Silica	"Well, yeah, high quality healing potions are kinda expensive..." replies Silica. "Okay, I'll just use my Dagger and Magic then... Oh! Can Pina join in, or should I set her to passive and have her sit out?" she asks, indicating the dragonling that's now taken up station float-flying beside her.
Kazuko Kawakami	"Hmhm... I don't mind Pina joining! Although... I'd kinda feel bad hitting her, too, even if this is just a sparring match." Kazuko strokes her chin again while peering at said dragonling. "But if she can take it.... Well, I haven't fought a tiny dragon before, so... If she'll be okay, too, then that'll be fine!"
Silica	"Even if you reduce her HP to zero, she turns into an item I can revive, so it's fine." replies Silica. "Same goes for me too. This body will turn into a Remain Light, but I'll respawn after it fades, so it's fine too." She resumes her ready stance. "Ready when you are!"
Kazuko Kawakami	"If that's the case... Let's give it our all, then!" KAzuko's grinning widely as she gets the go ahead, and with that, the battle is underway! The martial artist's first move: A quick thrust of her naginata straight for Silica's gut! She doesn't want to bust out her best moves just yet, after all, especially when she wants to see just what it is the Beast Tamer can do when confronted with an opponent that relies on pure speed.
Silica	Years spent in VR, two of them in a constant battle of life and death, have made all the SAO survivors preternaturally able to read a battle. People like Asuna and Kirito, the front line Assault Team in SAO are /far/ superior to someone like Silica, but that game left an imprint on everyone who got caught in its trap. Silica's eyes, formerly bright and joyful, have turned a very certain type of cold, calculated. The eyes of someone who's seen true battle, and stared death in the face. She jinks to the right, Pina rolling left to pincer the Naginata user betweem them as she thrusts through. A resonant sound, a mix of the ring of a sword being drawn, and the chime of a crystal bell sounds as light emits from the Cait Sith's dagger. She plants her left foot from the jink turning to face her opponent as she thrusts through with her own attack, ice crystals forming and flaking off from her little dagger blade!
Kazuko Kawakami	That shift in stance and demeanor doesn't go unnoticed by the martial artist, and her expression changes to one of glee. It's not often that she finds pleasant surprises like these, and she's going to enjoy it! Drawing the the polearm back after that quick stab, Kazuko seems rather focused on Silica as she jerks herself back to narrowly avoid getting tagged with that icy blade. "Better than I thought... Didja learn all this from ALO?" She sounds quite impressed, although she doesn't let her talking distract her (too much). Raising the naginata overhead, she goes for something a little flashier: A big downwards swing from above, then a sweep to the legs once the weapon touches the ground.
Silica	The problem with Sword Skills, is they leave the user 'stunned' for a few moments after use. The simple one Silica just used didn't have a bit 'stun' attached to it, but it's enough to get her smacked with the overhead swing and the sweep. An angry looking spiderweb of red lines, showing the grid skeleton mesh underneath the outer texture appearing at the impact point of the swing... though she doesn't stay down long after the sweep, leaping back up in an agile display of a laying backflip. "I learned most of this in the first game I played... Sword Art Online." she says that name like it were something rotten she'd just taken a bite of.
Kazuko Kawakami	Kazuko's actually looking somewhat stunned herself, although it's less at Silica's reaction and more at her... Lack of one beyond those lines and the backflip. "You talked about that one, too... OHh. So you learned while..." There's a mixed look of concern and confusion on the martial artist's face, and she holds the naginata at her side for the time being instead of pressing the attack. "... Are you okay, Silica? You got up kidna fast after that... Wait. Are you /that/ strong?" She's starting to look excited again after that, apparently hoping for Silica to secretly be some sort of stupidly sturdy speedster or something.
Silica	Silica's eyes glance up and left, soft focussing on something only she can see. "I'm at about half my HP bar." She rubs at the area she got hit in, wincing a little. "... it's not supposed to hurt..." mumbled words, barely audible, though to someone with Kazuko's hearing, they might just be clear as if she were speaking normally. "Didn't that other girl tell you? ALO avatars don't get tired, don't have reduced capability when damaged... we keep fighting at our full until our HP drops to zero." she explains. Videogame logic. Whee! "Anyway, yeah, I think that shows just how poor of a fighter I am... I over extended myself right into a position I couldn't get out of."
Kazuko Kawakami	"Half already? Then..." Kazuko furrows her brow in thought, and her eyebrow lifts slightly when Silica mutters to herself. Did the puppy-like girl actually hear that? If she did, she's not going to say anything about it. She's got a little tact, at least! "So that's the case...Huh. That really is video game-y." She giggles lightly and rests the naginata on her shoulder, giving Silica a confident grin as she approaches the Beast Tamer. "Don't worry! Everyone's gotta start somewhere. I still do it a lot, too, but I fight hard enough that I can deal with it even if it happens!" A bit of a boast, but still. A teacher's supposed to sound impressive, right?
Silica	"I am only using Leather armour... Miss Yuuki uses Light Metal, but I prefer the bonusses to Magic stats the Leather sets give. Helps with my Beast Taming too... I 'smell' more like a Monster in a Leather set than a Metal one... that's how most Cait Sith see the bonus anyway." Since it seems the bout is over now, she opens her menu, looks over something, then with a chant of not!Norse. "Su firra heiru ausutoru!" Each spoken word coils around until they're in front of her, and as the last one is spoken, her body glows with a refreshing green light. Pina also flutters over, and exhales a pale green mist that adds to that gleaming luster, but both sets of light fade after only a few moments. "Thanks Pina." she coos softly, gathering her friend in for a cuddle, rubbing her cheek against the dragonling's snout as it noses at her. "You're much more affectionate than my real life pet... she's more interested in my radio than me."`