TRP is a post-Great War AU RWBY RP set in Mistral City and Haven Academy with no canons, no rank claims, no maidens, and no god interference. We offer a progression system and site-wide events that change the setting based on player actions.
Post by Kishka Burzanova on Feb 25, 2021 8:38:21 GMT -5
KISHKA BURZANOVA
Training.
It was a special thing for Kishka. Everybody who knew her was well aware of her training regimen, and her intense dedication to following through with it, every single day, with few deviations from that norm.
Except for her recent downward spiral into depression and alcoholism, of course.
But she was past that.
Not really.
But she was as past it as she figured she reasonably could be.
Which meant now she was ready for action again. She had resumed her individual training regimen shortly after her talk with Shadecloak and Bianca in the Gardening Club, and had resumed training with Argent, following the Dust Ward Killer's attacks and the attacks on her cousin's party.
But now it was time to begin training for something else.
For her and Bianca's goal of leading an assault against the head of the so-called Kerch Kozaks, Alina Rybalka. Holly's killer, and an overall menace to society. The problem was that the longer she was allowed to roam free and do as she pleased, the more people she would pull over to her side through flashy acts of public heroism, which was in reality simply a form of manipulation intended to offer her leeway and both legal and social protection from the consequences of her less openly-heroic actions.
Meaning that if they waited too long, then they would be villainized for killing her, and she would go down in history as a martyr.
Which was not what Kishka wanted to happen. She wanted to expose her for the monster she was first, and then destroy her.
But for that to happen, she first would need to be capable of destroying her, to begin with.
That was why she had reserved a decently large room in the school's training facilities for the entire day, just for her and Bianca. It was 6 AM in the morning, and they were just getting started. They both had a lot to work on, and this was going to be the start of their rapidfire growth regimen to reach that stage.
So Kishka had woken up a bit early, had a quick breakfast and a coffee (no whiskey this time), and threw on a pair of athletic shorts and a tank top, before making her way down to the training room, so she could set up a good space for the two of them- a handful of obstacles, made up of some heavy-duty gymnastics equipment, sandbags, and whatever other things she could find to fill the space, which itself was split up into a few sections, to account for things like elevation- some segments of the room were raised up off the ground on risers, and one corner was a solid platform, which could be scaled by ladder, or by climbing wall.
She then busied herself with getting in some good stretches, and a few rounds against a speedbag until Bianca arrived.
"Hey. Glad you could make it. Right, so let's cut right to it, whenever you're ready. Got a long day ahead of us, hoping we can get a lot of work in before lunch break. Take your time warming up, I want to start with a spar if that's alright with you. Good place to see where we're both at, in terms of combat skills. I'll be getting the rest of the room set up after this set." She finished up with the speedbag, before heading over towards two remaining sandbags propped against the wall.
Carefully, she dragged them over, one at a time, and poured them out in various spots around the room.
It wasn't as though she was giving Bianca an unfair advantage either, by scattering dirt around for her Semblance- in fact, she was doing this to ensure a fair fight, with both competitors working at maximum potential. That was why once she finished with the sand, she also scattered around a number of nuts, bolts, screws, and marbles, for her own Semblance.
With the stage set, she set herself to double-checking everything, and getting in some last minute stretches while Bianca finished warming up, before heading over to her sparring partner.
"Open to any restrictions or rules you have in mind for this spar. My only suggestion is the obvious stipulation that we go until one of our Auras break. Otherwise, I won't be holding anything back, if you won't. We know she won't be." Her face was grave as she stated what they were both probably thinking about their target.
She had proven herself to be ruthless and capable.
Which meant they needed to be just as merciless, even in training with one another.
Once the rules were set, Kishka moved to stand about twenty paces apart from Bianca, and started the countdown timer, as she readied herself.
Bianca wasn't a slouch, especially when it came to a fight. Kishka didn't plan on going easy on her at all.
Post by Bianca Sabbato on Feb 26, 2021 15:47:58 GMT -5
I woke up after a good night of sleep when the small vibrating alarm under my pillow signaled it was time to get up and about. It was still dark outside, and it would continue to be for a while considering it was still the middle of winter.
Routinely putting my aura up, I started to get dressed, knowing full well that I would be stripped of almost all of my clothing when it came the time to train. So I merely grabbed an overly large artic coat to put over my regular training clothes and got off to eat. The cafeteria staff knew me and often prepared meals in advance since I liked to eat early.
After a decently sized breakfast. I left my coat in a locker and I decided to run a couple laps around the perimeter as a warm-up. Ending up in the training grounds Kishka had prepared for us in advance.
-Morning... Wow, looks like you’ve been busy already. Nice. Appreciate it- I called out as I entered the room, it seemed Kishka had really taken this seriously, the whole place was... It was perfect, as good as it could be.
I could see the work put into this, and I needed to half turn away from the girl, pretending I was contemplating the prepared area, while in reality, I was trying to hide my smile...
Comparing this Kishka with the one I found in the gardening club was like comparing night and day. Getting better would still take time for her, but I loved seeing that she was improving a little already. Yep, this was more like the Kishka I knew.
-Sure, that sounds alright. Will do just that. I want for this day to be a really productive one-
I said as I began doing some stretches and the like. My body was already loose from the warming-up run. But I was aiming to push it to its limits today, so there was no harm in amping up the intensity little by little.
As I was busy doing some shadowboxing in front of a large mirror, I noticed in the reflection how my partner for the day was busy with some sandbags...
I didn’t think too much about it at first. But sooner rather than later I realized exactly what she was doing, so I quickly jogged up to stop her.
-Uh... Kish. If that’s for my sake... How do I put this? I don’t very much like using sand. It’s very hard to properly control compared to anything else. So no need to do that, I brought up my own stuff... I mean, I’m grateful for your concern but, in a real-life situation, I will only try to use sand if I have nothing else at hand-
Well, that was awkward. But maybe necessary. If she wanted to leave the sand scattered around to simulate a fringe case, that would do as well, probably. But it was perhaps a little too soon for us to be getting into such unlikely scenarios.
I was wearing a short chiton tunic. With a brown belt to make sure everything was tight and that I would have as much range of motion as possible. Living with Berwyn meant that I had access to a lot of scrap cloth, that was why my belt was lidded with small pouches containing everything from soft earth to small pebbles for me to attack with.
There was no telling where a confrontation with the leader of the Kozaks could happen, if it were to be in the middle of an airship or something, I didn’t want to be caught empty-handed because of my lack of preparation.
And I think that was a good indicator of how very little we actually knew about each other fighting styles. I know I may have come out as a whiny bitch about it, but if we were going to put our lives on the line together then we needed to know each other like the back of our hands. That included little details like that one.
I also didn’t know the limits of Kishka’s semblance. I knew she needed to touch something to control it, and apparently, it could be virtually anything as long as it wasn’t too big... And that was about it, she didn’t use her semblance a lot while fighting. But I was looking forward to knowing her little quirks and tricks better.
I listened as Kishka mentioned her conditions for the spar. Nodding in agreement to everything she said.
-I won’t be holding anything back either. Whatever happens, the fight shouldn’t last very long if we do that. That way we may even have a chance to do one more round at the end if we let our auras recover-
I didn’t comment on what the fire lady may do in case of a confrontation. As I was sure we were both on the same page about that. And I had the certainty that we wouldn’t be holding anything back against her either. So I merely hummed an agreement as I got myself in a position to start the brawl. Kishka was a powerful individual, I had no need to treat her as anything less than that.
For Kishka’s sake and my own. I would go all out from the start. No bullshit, no holding anything back. Until one of our auras broke, I would be treating Kishka as if I wanted to kill her.
I took a deep breath and I emptied my mind of any unnecessary distractions. There were only two persons in the world right now, me, and the individual in front of me, one of the two was going to go down.
Fifteen meters separated us. Well inside the reach of my semblance, but also the dangerous cannon hid inside Kishka’s umbrella. Did I want to go in and fight her in melee? Or to retreat and try to handle her at a distance? I guess it was up to her this time. She was way faster, and this being a formal spar meant I had no chance of getting the jump of her while she was distracted.
So I would be on the tips of my toes to react as swiftly as I could to whatever she decided to do. It was not ideal, but so was pretty much everything in life. As the horn was just about to go off signaling the beginning of the fight. I took a last glance at what weapons I had at my disposal.
I had been tinkering with new proportions for my grenades since I should be able to afford a little more lighting dust to give them a little extra punch they were needing. From then on it was pretty much a matter of improving the design and the like.
I also had two spare spears from the armory, but I figured out they wouldn’t last long. Hopefully, we wouldn’t need to come to a point where I had to worry about resources.
Post by Kishka Burzanova on Mar 20, 2021 2:51:47 GMT -5
KISHKA BURZANOVA
Kishka nodded at Bianca's appreciative comment regarding the effort she'd put in so far this morning, but left it at that. It wasn't really a huge deal; fairly standard operating procedure for her training regimen, actually, though she was glad to see that Bianca wasn't offput by it any. Not that she'd expected her to be- the lizard faunus had always struck her as someone who was as hard-working and self-motivated as herself.
Seeing as Bianca was planning on taking her up on the warm-up offer, Kishka simply busied herself with spreading the sand around, though stopped as soon as Bianca approached, a quizzical expression on her face, before she nodded with realization as her sparring partner explained the situation.
"Ahhh... Alright, good to know. Thanks." She smiled, before turning to place the sand bags back in the corner, though she left the little bit she'd already poured, as there was hardly any point in moving it now, and just continued with her setup, scattering a bit of random debris for herself to use. She could see the logic in sparring without any provisions for semblance use, though she also thought it was worthwhile to train in an accurate-to-life setting. The training room was ideal, because it was closed off aside from students and teachers, so no Kozaks could observe them training (not that she figured they had any targets on their heads yet), and it was equipped with other accommodations for training aside from sparring, which meant they could keep their entire session in one convenient location.
However, it made for a more realistic setup if the little nails and ball bearings were tossed around, as in any environment but the most sterile and clean, she could always count on finding little objects lying around, which meant she was never defenseless, in terms of her Semblance- even if by some chance, someone managed to disarm her of both her umbrella, and her ammo pouches.
She also figured that it made for good mental training as well- the ability to quickly scan a room for tactical advantages was crucial, for any endeavor, but especially when faced with an incredibly power unknown quantity like their target.
That sorted out, though, Kishka finished up her pre-fight warm-up and readied herself after Bianca agreed to the terms.
She was a little excited, actually; she hadn't had too many chances to go all out against an opponent as skilled as Bianca in a while, and this was as good a chance as any to rectify that.
Lethal intent.
That was how she had to frame this fight in her mind. That was something she would have to be ready for when the time came. Luckily, she knew she was capable of it.
Blood dripped from her palms as she gripped her umbrella tightly in hand.
Her throat felt dry- her immediate impulse was to reach for her flask, but without even moving her hands towards it, she knew it wasn't there- and if it had been, it would have only contained water.
Eleven days sober.
She pulled back her elbow-length gloves, standing out against the contrast of her gym shorts and tank top. She figured she didn't have to explain to Bianca why she had started wearing them, though. Not after she'd been there for Kishka through so much rough shit lately. Whether the tunic-clad girl was aware of it or not, she had been one of her rocks through some of the most trying days of her life.
Which didn't mean that Kishka was going to beat the shit out of her any less- if anything, that additional respect for Bianca meant that she was going to give this everything she had. She inhaled.
No pulled punches, no playing around.
Like the lizard faunus had already said- it would be over quickly.
One way or the other.
She exhaled.
Fifteen meters. Far enough that this could go into a shootout, close enough that melee was also a possibility. Bianca's semblance was powerful at range, but viable close up, and from what Kishka knew of her capabilities, from experience and previous interactions with her, she was primarily a polearm specialist, with a further ranged option in the form of some sort of high-tech grenades. And she was much stronger than Kishka, physically, which meant closing into melee range was risky- high chance of being grappled, thrown, or simply attacked up close.
Her strategy for this fight, therefore, was very likely to play skirmisher- potshots at range, and avoid her ranged attacks, then slip past her guard and attack up close, before retreating away again, as soon as Bianca moved in for a melee attempt.
And so, as soon as the timer buzzed, she began her assault, launching a volley of cannonfire at the lizard girl, before darting away at high speeds, aiming to stay just outside of Bianca's Semblance's range as she moved in an arc around her.
As she ran, she discreetly, but very intentionally, stepped on one of the loose screws lying around, while also avoiding the small patch of sand she had poured earlier- as her foot touched the screw, she imbued it with her Aura, bringing it up to hover close to her foot as she ran, trailing close beside her, so that she would be prepared to launch an attack immediately, should Bianca close the distance.
Post by Bianca Sabbato on Mar 20, 2021 15:19:51 GMT -5
The fight began, and soon enough Kishka was already on the move. She aimed her cannon at me and shot mercilessly at my body... Good, she was taking this seriously. I managed to dodge the first couple of bullets, but soon enough one of them hit me in the pelvis, messing with my balance and making me eat another couple of shots with my aura. It shrieked in protest but managed to hold for now.
Before she could disengage. I decided to retaliate. Half of my pouches exploded outwards, from each of them, a stone bullet emerged and shoot straight for Kishka, fast and powerful like machinegun fire. One after the other, they pelted the floor and the surrounding area there where they found it. Once in a while, they pelted Kishka’s aura as well.
...6,7,8... Ninth...10, 11, 12... The ninth bullet was when I sent the grenade. They were almost the same size, so in the heat of the moment, they would be indistinguishable from the other. It didn’t even need to hit Kishka, but she was soo fast that I barely managed to graze her with the edge of electrified water as it exploded near her body.
And I couldn’t do much more than that as she zipped away beyond my reach. Her cannonballs were as strong as they looked, but as I set my mind to focus purely on the fight. I noticed something strange in her strategy...
Why wasn’t she using her semblance in tandem with her weapon? Her umbrella had far greater ranged capabilities than my grenades, so it would make sense for her to go apeshit on me from afar. And I didn't believe she would be pussyfooting around after we agreed to take this fight seriously...
So, there must have been a reason. I only needed to analyze the facts. She shot me with her cannon and retreated immediately after doing so while raining cannonballs in my direction. But she didn’t use her semblance... I was about to set myself to catch Kishka so I could find out, but a fleeting sensation in the back of my head prevented me from doing so.
I remembered what Valeska had told me. About taking away the agency from my target. Kishka was faster than me and could likely tire me out if I chose to run in her direction. Besides that, she could take the chance to attack me from afar while I was distracted catching up with her... So maybe it was time for a different approach. Or, dare I say. A different non-approach.
My barrage of bullet-sized rocks also had a second intention in mind. As the stony fragments now found themselves embedded in the floor and walls around us, creating many different angles from where I could attack my senior. Thank you. Kishka, for giving me that idea earlier when you started spewing sand over the place. Now, she was in my zone, and I cannot stress how advantageous that was.
Whenever she chooses to attack me with her cannon, the projectile still has to travel all the way from her weapon to my position, which means plenty of time for me to prepare. I won’t always manage to dodge them, as Kishka is a very good shot, but I should have the advantage in extreme ranges since my semblance attacks don’t have to travel as much distance as her weapon’s.
30 meters was the absolute limit of my semblance. And Kishka managed to cover them in her retreat in barely a second. This was impressive in and out of itself, and something I needed to keep an eye open for... But I also had a good frame of reference to what she was likely to do.
Kishka was like Ryan. Combining high speed with both ranged and melee capabilities. Of course, Kishka had far better damaging potential than him. But the principle was the same, keep your target at bay from afar, and take advantage whenever you can to close in with hard barrages of melee attacks...
It was a pretty good tactic, but it was also a double-edged sword. I noticed it while suffering the consequences of her early attack. If my judgment was right, then there was no way she was hitting me from that far without me getting out of the way first. If she wanted to damage me, she would need to get inside my range... And I would be preparing a warm welcome for her.
So instead of blindly pursuing her like a madwoman, I stayed back, still holding onto my melee weapon (Kishka could close in really fast, so I needed to be prepared) but refraining from pursuing her for the time being.
The killer got away from me like that, so did that Moon-themed girl. And I was tired of being the laughing stock of fools like those. So, with a neutral expression on my face. I began moving towards a section of risers intending to get myself behind those. I walked very slowly and making sure to never take my eyes off Kishka.
I thought about the elevated section in the corner for a second, but let’s be real, there was no way I was climbing that shit without Kishka immediately murdering me while I’m distracted.
But I still wanted to put something between Burzanova and myself. Valeska suggested I would be good at defending a spot, but not at long sieges. So a strategy like this wouldn’t work on people like Aegle, but it should be decent against my current target. “Fire bitch outranges you as well, Kish. She does so for both of us, actually. So what the fuck you gonna do if she chooses to stay back like this? I really want to see what you come up with. I know it’s not the most flashy way of approaching a fight... But I told you from the start, I would take this as a life or death scenario. I don’t need to show off, I don’t need a crushing victory... I just need you to go the fuck down, if this is what it takes to do it, then so be it”
I only had one grenade left, so my slight advantage would soon disappear. It was on my classmate to figure out how to make the most of that. I could see her doing it, but I sure as hell wouldn’t be clueing her in on it.
Post by Kishka Burzanova on Apr 23, 2021 22:51:57 GMT -5
KISHKA BURZANOVA
Stone bullets.
It was easy enough to see them coming, but even with Kishka's speed and skilled reflexes, she couldn't necessarily do much to stop them, beyond protecting her most vital points, deflecting them as she continued her initial cannonfire volley. That didn't stop her from getting pelted by a number that broke through her defenses, of course. It seemed Bianca's Semblance outranged her weapon, which was slightly surprising to Kishka, but also comforting to know- she had seen their target's Semblance in action. She knew how strong it was, and how far it could go. Which meant she'd have to deal with being outranged eventually, if she couldn't expand her own in time.
It would have been easy for her to miss the little stone-sized device thrown her way, if she weren't as perceptive in combat as she was. While she couldn't stop its effects at the speed it was flying, she was easily enough able to expand her umbrella in the moment that it struck, shielding her from the bulk of the blast, though some of the electrified droplets did lash at her unprotected ankles as she moved. It stunt, but was nothing her Aura couldn't handle.
And she was no fool, either- she had the unique advantage of having practiced her own Semblance enough to recognize Bianca's traps for what they were. She was lacing the battlefield with projectiles which she could easily move at her leisure, if she needed to, considering her own abilities were far less limited than Kishka's own. What was more, Bianca's Semblance was far stronger, and better trained than her own, so countering it by manipulating Bianca's own earthen projectiles would very likely backfire on her if she attempted it.
So that was not an option.
She did crack a grin, though. It was a clever tactic, one that she herself used often, although in her case, it was as much sleight of hand as Semblance control. Still, very impressive.
Following through on her sprint, she recognized when she was out of Bianca's range, as the stones stopped moving, and paused for a brief second to observe the lizard faunus, as she backed towards a set of risers. Cutting off paths of approach or retreat, and providing potential high ground.
She was faster than Bianca, so she doubted the other girl could make it up the risers before she reached her, at which point, she would be at a distinct disadvantage against Kishka's speed. However, there was a possibility of Bianca burning some of her Aura to expedite the process, which had its own merits.
Either way, if she tried to reach higher ground, Kishka would be able to capitalize much more easily than she suspected Bianca was aware. And if she didn't, that just meant they were playing on even ground.
Still, Bianca had holed herself off against the wall, leaving Kishka with limited options of approach. It might not be a bad idea to close in, actually- staying at range was only really helping Bianca, so perhaps her normally useful kiting strategy wouldn't be the best idea here.
It was risky, but she had a pretty solid plan.
Pivoting around, Kishka began a zig-zagging charge towards Bianca, staying wary of any rocks nearby, and doing her best to avoid where she had seen the other stones fall earlier, as she aimed her again-closed umbrella behind her, firing a powerful shot into the ground, and springing forward on the recoil, twisting in the air, as she opened the umbrella again, holding it in front of herself as she flew the remaining few meters towards Bianca. The lizard girl's visual of her would hopefully be obscured enough that she couldn't land any truly precise shots, but importantly, also obscured her ability to see what Kishka was planning.
She knew her own Semblance was pretty weak, with a limited range, but she could still make do with it as needed. About ten meters shy of Bianca, she fired a blind shot at her with the cannon, though with her own inability to see her target, the shot went a bit wide, only glancing off of Bianca's Aura, for whatever reason.
That shot wasn't the important one, though- Bianca was expecting an attack from the front, not from above. And in the time that Kishka had taken to throw up the umbrella shield, and the feint shot, she had been positioning the little screw that was previously hovering by her foot. Now within range, she made a flashy show of landing into a roll, closing her umbrella once more, as her free hand sharply pulled down, towards her thigh.
Responding immediately after, the screw, poised several meters above Bianca flew down, scoring a direct hit to the back of the trainee's head, before "falling" limply to the ground.
She would have to stay within ten or so meters of Bianca, but luckily that was outside of the spearwoman's melee range. Kishka was fast enough to move away if she made a charge with her spear, but unluckily for Bianca, this meant as long as she stood in that spot, Kishka could retaliate with her own Semblance the second Bianca moved to attack again.
She brought up her cannon to open fire again, as she began strafing towards the side of the risers.
Notes// Weapon attack for 11%, Semblance attack for 22%. | Aura// 73.5% (-3.5% next turn) | WC// 888 | TWC// 2616
Post by Bianca Sabbato on Apr 30, 2021 17:09:54 GMT -5
Well. Leave it up to Kishka to find out exactly what I meant by taking the approach that would best counter what I was doing. As much as she trash-talked her own semblance, having both that and her cannon shooting at me from different angles made a world of difference than only having the weapon.
And would you look at that, she found just the right distance to take advantage of it. Too close for my superior reach to matter, too far away for me to engage in melee where I was at my best. I was in a big predicament, and it occurred to me that I really needed to do something about this.
In the meantime, Kishka proved my point by grazing me with her weapon, whose projectile I saw coming and could deflect just in time. But getting a damn good hit with a semblance-controlled bolt I didn’t manage to detect in time.
Huh... So that’s how it felt being hit in the back of the head during a fight... I can see why people hate it. Whatever the case, it was a move I wholeheartedly approved.
On that same page. I realized I had made a gamble and lost. So Instead of retaining my losing hand, I decided to try something different, it was just as risky, but if I did it well the payoff would be greater... And it was not as if keeping this up would do me any good, so I had nothing to lose and everything to win.
If mid-range is not a good deal to me, and Kishka’s not dumb enough to stay at long-range. Then that only leaves one option...
I sent the remaining of my earth flying towards Kishka, it was a pretty impressive attack, but one pretty easy to dodge as well. My real intention was not to hit her but to distract her just long enough for the rest of the scattered earth to creep its way towards her feet.
Once I knew I had a good opportunity, I first ensnared her legs, and then made the earth creep up and around her body. She still had a fair degree of movement, but she wouldn’t be running anywhere now.
Without delay, I ran towards her, I wasn’t particularly fast but the distance was so short it didn’t matter anyway, I was all over her in around two seconds. Now it was time to see if I could make something good out of this.
I stabbed at her and barely grazed her aura. Good, I went again, another grace. Those seemed weak, but would soon add up, I went for a third glancing hit with my spear...
It broke.
Because of course, it would. Shitty-ass mass-produced things. Shitty ass aura that depended on strong materials... Swallowing my frustration I continued, I had another spear on my back, but unsheathing it would take me some time I couldn’t afford to lose.
I needed to keep the pressure, I jumped towards Kishka, planning on delivering an ax kick towards her head... Sadly, there was something equally frustrated that needed to be said, even as much as it was a stab at my pride.
Kishka was a better fighter. Even entangled with my earth, she managed to dodge the attack entirely in the last second. My feet cracked the ground as it fell, but didn’t manage to hurt a hair in Kishka’s head.
In a way that was reassuring, I would be way more reluctant of going against the fire lady if my partner was a pushover. Her strength was mine as well, so I smiled through my miss and went for a straight punch, she dodged it again, of course, but my intention was not to hit her with that anyway.
Hidden in the shadow of my arm, my last stone grenade traveled, its movement powered by my semblance. As I released my punch, I launched the explosive towards Kishka as well, it wasn’t a perfect hit, but it was damn better than the first one, that was for sure.
Whatever the case, if Kishka wanted to run away she would need to break down the earth, and that would buy me time. I would likely try and use the earth to attack Kishka with it soon enough as it was my best chance of breaking that sturdy aura of hers.
But to do so, I needed kinetic energy, I was not ignorant as to how my semblance worked, and I was sure Kishka knew this as well.
And to generate that energy, I would eventually need to release her. Would I still have an active aura at that point? Would I manage to cause enough damage in time? I wasn’t really sure anymore, and Kishka looked like she was just about to launch her counter-attack as well.
Fingers crossed, now I was really grateful that this wasn’t a real fight against the Burzanova.
824 / 3081 Words
33% Aura left on Bianca.
Kishka takes 10% Damage this turn and 10% In the next one. Kishka is being grappled for this turn.
Post by Kishka Burzanova on May 8, 2021 1:33:31 GMT -5
KISHKA BURZANOVA
Earth came sailing towards her, as she danced just outside the reach of her opponent's spear.
She was expecting it, of course.
It was by no means a sloppy attack, even for a feint, but Kishka had honed her agility to a considerably high level, and was able to deflect and deftly slide between the bits of matter flying towards her. She made a mental note, actually, as the stones and dirt passed her by; Bianca was clearly capable of powerful feats with her semblance, far greater than Kishka could ever hope to achieve with her own, but she was approaching it from a very two-dimensional perspective- it was what made the attack so simple to dodge, actually. Perhaps it was much more difficult to micromanage her attacks like Kishka often did when manipulating an object, but she didn't see why it would be too hard for Bianca to learn to switch the momentum and direction of her attacks to adjust for an opponent's likely dodge.
If she'd have, for instance, shifted her attack to the left, as Kishka dodged right, it would have hit her with no time to react, and opened her up to several further attacks.
However, it became apparent that perhaps this was not Bianca's intention, as she felt the earth gripping around her ankles. Already too late to break free easily, she simply smiled as the clever trick caught her as planned.
She wasn't sure how fast Alina could move, but she did notice that the woman who often accompanied her, the few times they'd crossed paths, was at least as quick as herself. If Bianca was able to land this move on either of them, it would disable the ability to kite around her, as she had previously attempted to do.
And allowed for Bianca to also decide on the distance of engagement, as she charged forward with her spear.
Very clever.
The thrusts came in rapid succession, but even pinned down by the earthen grasp below, Kishka was able to partially deflect the blows with her umbrella, such that they landed against her thighs, or skimmed the side of her arm. The third blow flew forth, and she deftly caught the attack in the crook of her weapon, snapping the spear in two.
She would have felt pretty bad for breaking one of Bianca's weapons, if she weren't aware that they were easily replaceable and frankly a little disposable. It was a wise choice, investing in weapons that didn't require much Aura to maintain, since protecting the weapon itself was rarely a concern.
Luckily, this provided an ample opportunity for attack.
As Bianca lurched forward with a powerful kick, Kishka crouched low, grabbing Bianca's offending foot with her offhand, and firing three rapid cannoballs into her chest and back at point-blank range as she passed overhead, using her guiding hand to redirect the kick over her shoulder. A few meters ahead of her, the tiny screw reacted to her hand gesture, rolling gently towards her, until it rested by her bound foot, just as Bianca landed with a craterous impact.
A punch aimed from behind was given away easily by the shuffle of Bianca's feet against the ground; Kishka swung her umbrella backwards, catching her friend's arm in the crook, and throwing it outward, in an attempt to knock the faunus off balance.
Unfortunately, however, this did not prevent Bianca's explosive attack from striking her, unaware that she had even thrown it. It was a risky move, throwing a grenade in close quarters, but it paid off pretty well, as the blast left the purple-haired woman stunned for a moment. It stung, but her Aura was tough- she wasn't too bothered by the attack, her Aura still not having flexed yet in this fight.
She fully expected that Bianca would be capable of taking her down much more quickly, though, now that she was immobilized, and surrounded by her dirt. She could put up a good fight in this position, but it was apparent that Bianca had a number of tricks up her sleeves, and was just plain better at launching numerous powerful attacks in quick succession.
Luckily for her, Bianca wouldn't have that opportunity- the little screw moved one more time, as Kishka pointed towards the lizard girl's forehead.
Imbued with her semblance, the little scrap of steel shot forth and beaned Bianca right between the eyes, with enough force to shatter stone. The earth around Kishka's feet slackened as her opponent's Aura broke.
She let loose a sigh of relief, and smiled at Bianca, offering her a hand up, if the sudden attack and the previous arm throw had knocked her down. "Good match. You're a damn good fighter. Glad you're on my side."
Notes// Weapon attack for 22%, Sem for 14%. | Aura// 52% | WC// 794 | TWC// 3410
Post by Bianca Sabbato on May 17, 2021 1:59:41 GMT -5
A cannonball to the chest hurts like hell. Three of them in quick succession weren’t even funny. And as I launched my attack, it became more and more evident by the second that I had underestimated Kishka’s fighting prowess.
Not only she quickly managed to break my weapon. But she also redirected my unarmed attacks. Messing my balance and also finding an opening between them to get those devastating blows against me.
It was a brilliant way of fighting. Really, I wasn’t one to get excited over fights. But going against Kishka didn’t feel like mindless repetition or just a compromise to fill during class. She was good. I really felt like I was learning as the fight continued for the brief moments it had left.
I felt like I could really grow from fighting the human girl. Cheap tricks and unpredictability wouldn’t cut it from this point on. I needed to really get better at fighting if I wanted to have a chance from now on. If I wanted to survive, I needed to become stronger.
Soon enough, the killing blow of the sparring match would come.
The loose bolt was enough to take me to the ground. Although I wouldn’t spend much time sitting down at all. As soon as my aura broke, years of conditioning kicked in as I planted one hand on the ground and quickly crouched into a defensive position. I waited for something to come, ready to dodge or guard an incoming strike...
Of course, nothing came. Only the hand Kishka offered to let me get up. Looking like a deer in the headlights for a second, I felt a little embarrassed as I nodded and let her help me up. The fight had already finished, after all.
And yes, my aura being depleted meant that the bout was over... It had been quite a long time since that happened. I think the last time had been with Nina. But I think it was how serious this fight was that made me react that way.
-Thanks. And I’m glad to be on your side as well. I would hate to be against you- I said with a chuckle. Shaking many useless memories from my head as I faced the winner of this fight. I wasn’t sure how to react to her compliment. So I decided to turn the topic away from that for the moment.
-It was a good fight... I underestimated how sneaky you can be with that semblance of yours- I said, humming in interest now that the match was over. Better to analyze things as they were still fresh in memory.
For example, I needed to work on my reaction time since I seemed unable to avoid even the frontal shots from Kishka’s cannon.
Now, to be fair, Kishka was a damn good shot. And her weapon a very deadly one. But still, It was something to improve on if I wanted to have a chance to take on stronger enemies from that point on... Speaking of which.
-Alright... I see some things I could improve on. There seems to be a sweet spot where I’m at my weakest- I said, partially to Kishka but also to myself, so I wouldn’t forget addressing it later.
-I would have probably never realized unless I spared with you. Since most people either stay really close or really far away. Few are mobile and durable enough to remain at that golden distance consistently-
Melee fighters were not my problem. My problem was long-ranged fighters that could snipe me from afar. I was working on my semblance to counteract that, but my semblance was my only dependable resource in those situations. So if someone packed better firepower at medium and longer distances, I was screwed.
I could offset that if they were squishy snipers. But Kishka was the exact opposite of a feeble fighter. And considering how much punishment the Kozak leader took both from the dust ward killer and the wolfomobile. I figured out she was a similar case.
-But I guess you are one of them... This is actually really good for me since it means I can iron that out by fighting you... Yeah. I feel like doing this was a good idea already-
I would need to work more on my long-range capabilities. Being good close was fine and dandy, but few people would do that after watching me fight even once. At least not if they had any other options.
Besides, I needed more firepower, a way to finish fights quicker. I wasn’t fast nor sneaky. Once I got into a fight, it was a deathmatch for me since I couldn’t run... As I considered these facts, I took a look at our surroundings. And all the training implements waiting for us.
Truth be told. I wasn’t even tired since the fight hadn’t lasted very long. So I still had plenty of energy to burn. -Do you have any plan on what to do now? or something, in particular, you want us to do?- I asked out, feeling it would be the case. It didn’t make much sense for her to get us this big-ass room only for a spar if we were going to train like usual afterward.
I could always propose something if she didn’t have any plans, though. We were partners in this, so I didn’t want to make Kishka do all the job for me.
Post by Kishka Burzanova on Jun 9, 2021 4:44:38 GMT -5
KISHKA BURZANOVA
The warm smile on her face took a bashful glow, as Bianca complimented her semblance.
Sneaky was a good word for it.
Not strong or powerful. At least, not for a Huntress's weapon- fresh rookies at Sanctum often had about as much destructive power as hers, sometimes just with their bare hands. Their semblances were often even stronger. Her semblance's biggest benefits all lie in the element of surprise, and careful positioning.
If she possessed any less spatial awareness, she wouldn't be able to move items very effectively with it. She needed to be able to focus on an intense fight, at close range, while also maneuvering something as small as a screw around with her. That took skill, and while it was impressive, it was really only an expression of how much effort she had to go to just to replicate a fraction of the versatility of something like Argent's or Colton's semblance.
Once someone was aware of it, though, and once they caught on to her hand gestures, it was child's play to dodge her attacks.
The most devastating brute force uses of it were hardly effective against anyone quick enough to move out of the way- while she could manipulate larger objects, up to a pretty considerable weight, anything over a few pounds was so telegraphed as to be functionally useless. Like the armchair, against Aegle. Easily dodged, even by the worst Huntress at the Academy.
"Heh. Yeah, I don't really fight fair. Good to see you don't, either."
She nodded at the lizard girl's assessment of her own faults, gleaned from the experience. It was a weakness that was easy enough for Kishka to capitalize on, as a hybrid fighter that was about equally skilled at range or up close.
Anyone who specialized one way or the other would have been inclined to stay at that distance, allowing Bianca to leverage her superior semblance range to her advantage, or forcing a melee fighter into a disadvantage with her spear.
Frankly, Bianca's range was a massive asset against most opponents, and even with her own ability to stay at mid-range, it was only because of her own martial prowess, hardened aura, and reflexes that she was able to win the match. All she really needed to fill in the gap was a better means of disabling and disarming her opponents before they could launch their attacks.
"Lucky thing is that there aren't too many opponents you'll face that can fight you at range, and last long enough to make a difference. Best tip I've got for that is to focus on controlling their reactions- hard to do on the fly, maybe, but if you can push and pull them around the battlefield, with traps or feints, you should be able to keep anyone out of that sweet spot, where you can attack at range." It might have seemed obvious, but it was the philosophy that mattered the most. The trick to combat wasn't in being overwhelmingly stronger than the opponent; it was leveraging your advantages and simultaneously removing theirs from play.
Control.
Wars were waged and won on simple strategies and good execution. You didn't have to summit a mountain to attack a giant, if you could stab at its feet until it fell.
Rybalka was their giant.
And with as little as they knew of her exact combat capabilities, it could be assumed that she was leagues above either of them in training and prowess. While Bianca had been able to learn from her mistakes fighting Kishka, the same was also true in reverse. Bianca was arguably the closest approximation Kishka had to the glorified bandit queen's abilities.
Much like Rybalka, Bianca far outranged Kishka, and was able to output a significant amount of damage very quickly. The difference was that it was highly likely that the Kozak was tougher and faster than Bianca. Which meant the same strategy she had employed in this instance would be much less useful in a close-up fight with Alina.
She could get in close, but surviving the onslaught would be harder, and she'd have to do it for much longer, if she went at her solo.
It was a lot to think about.
Though hopefully, she wouldn't be going at her solo. Ideally, she would be ambushing her with Bianca, and hopefully whatever fixers they would be able to get their hands on through her political connections...
She stretched her back, and then her arms. "I didn't actually realize your semblance could reach that far. Knew it was powerful, but you've got some impressive control.
She pondered as Bianca seemed ready to move on to the next exercise.
Yeah, they still had plenty to do.
"I was thinking a good run, to start us off, and cool down from the spar. Work on some endurance and speed. Could take it to the track, or one of the treadmills in here. Up to you, I'm fine with either."
This was turning out to be a good, productive, day, already.
Post by Bianca Sabbato on Jun 10, 2021 2:51:28 GMT -5
I saw Kishka’s smile take a different note. Looking a little... Embarrassed? Reluctant? I wasn’t sure, but it made me curious. And I had to respond with a cheese-eating grin on my part. It was a good look for her, one I certainly hadn’t seen before, and I wouldn’t mind seeing in the future.
I caught myself and stopped right in my tracks. Damnit, Kishka, do you have to look this adorable all of a sudden? Whatever the case, I shook my head and cast those impure thoughts out of my mind. Smiling to myself as I remembered Argent and what a lovely couple they did together.
Yeah... As much as the faunus boy had dropped the ball. I hoped they could go back to what they used to be. They clearly did well to each other.
Speaking of which, I could probably try and spend more time around the snake-man. I knew there were plenty of things I could learn from someone like Argent. Even if he didn’t want to participate in these training sessions. That didn’t mean I couldn’t try and test myself more often against some of the other advanced students here at Haven.
-Meh, no such thing as fighting fair. You are either taking it seriously, in which case you cheat. Or you are not- I responded to her commentary. As I, for once, didn’t understand people who believed being tricky and playing dirty was a bad thing.
I mean, I was pretty fond of staying alive. Honor and bullshit were all fine and dandy if you were competing or doing some kind of sparring. But in a real fight? The notion that people would put their old-timey values over their own life? Valuing them over the safety of the people they were supposed to protect? Irresponsibility is what I called that. If you gotta protect either yourself or others? You go for the kill.
I listened to her assessment of my flaws, finding myself agreeing with her point of view. I had lost the fight because I hadn’t been able to properly take the reigns of it. I let Kishka dictate my pace and position, so of course, she would pick whatever most benefited her.
As to how to prevent that from happening in the future... I could use my semblance to offset my mobility problems or force my opponent to move wherever I wanted. But that would leave me without my primary source of firepower.
I would need to solve that. To find a way to abstract even further so I’d be able to both dish some good damage and alter the environment around me. And treat both of those actions simultaneously as two entirely different things.
Needless to say, I was already dreading the idea. But training your semblance usually meant more than just lifting weights or running around. Sometimes you had to get creative and take some weird paths to victory.
-Thanks, I try to work hard on that... As strong as it has become, it’s just dirt at the end of the day. Gotta do some weird shit to get the most of it. So, as control gets better, range naturally grows-
Of course, if I just tossed chunks of rock to people, I wouldn’t be nearly as effective. If it’s a projectile, I had to give it tension and centrifugal force. Make it paradoxically aerodynamic and sharp. If it’s not, I gotta control how malleable or solid I want it to be. Decide when to pull and when to push.
In essence, a pain in the ass to handle, but one that I loved nonetheless... And speaking of semblances, as sneaky as Kishka’s one was, I was not blind to the obvious. It was noticeably weak compared with the trainee’s overall level. At least a step behind her other martial abilities.
That was weird... Maybe she was having problems with her semblance? I should probably try and help her with training it and the like, I was no instructor, but two minds were bound to think better than one.
But as for now, we still had plenty to do to be sitting our assess there all day. And we couldn’t afford to slack off if we wanted to be ready... It would be hard. But even if it looked like an unsurmountable mountain right now, we wouldn’t gain anything by being idle.
Just keep moving forward... What part of that was a genuine motivational speech, and what part was just toxic positivity was up in the air. I just knew it had worked alright thus far, so I was sticking to my guns.
Hell. It wasn’t much. But sometimes, that was enough. Sometimes it had to be enough. And as I looked at Kishka’s decisiveness, I felt like this was a good thing that we were doing.
-Let’s go to the track. Might as well get some fresh air while we are at it...-
But next week, I was taking care of the routine. And I would make us do some real strength training... this I didn’t say, but I considered with a devilish smile on my face.