Zuko considers this. "Okay. As long as you know this isn't going to happen overnight."
No going from squeezing rocks in a horse stance to defeating seven ninjas by yourself in a day. Sorry Hiccup.
Zuko steps back from the stream, where a wide meadow serves as a sufficient clearing, and waves Hiccup back.
He goes through one of his forms, first, and it doesn't look like anything so much as it looks like Zuko is showing off how quickly he can move, and how high his level of control over his body is. He goes from standing to sprawled on the ground and back in the blink of an eye, and he stops in positions that seem like he shouldn't possibly be able to balance that way, with one foot on the ground and the other up in the air like that, and held there, without even a shiver of effort.
He's graceful. But not like a dancer. Graceful like someone who has such an extensive knowledge of his own body that he can, and does, make it do anything he wants it to do.
"Stacy, I'd like an opponent. One of the Kyoshi Warriors."
The figure that appears is swathed in green, and possibly female. Her hair is long, and her face is painted, and her outfit is very obviously armored. She's holding a pair of golden fans as if they were dangerous.
Fans. Dangerous. Funny, right?
The AI and Zuko stare each other down for a few minutes, circling with careful foot placement. There's a lot about this way of fighting that's different from the Viking way, but the most visible is probably the way that every single motion is precise. Every footfall, every movement of the hands, is deliberate. Considered. Thought-out. This is a thinking warrior's fight.
The AI rushes first. Her technique is one of holds, throws, and specific blocks that turn Zuko's force against him. When she strikes, it's less a strike and more that her hands, her knees, feet, or weapons, are suddenly in the place where Zuko was going, and that breaks his stance. It's a good style. It turns Zuko's strength against him and makes it his weakness.
But Zuko's style is one of speed, evasion, quickness so fast Hiccup could be forgiven for thinking humans just couldn't move that quickly. His reflexes are lightning-quick. His form changes as quickly as a flickering flame.
He disarms the Kyoshi warrior, and the two circle again, unarmed on unarmed opponent, before rushing again, and this time Zuko is distinctly at advantage, in his light plantsuit. The AI's padded armor cushions blows from his fists, but is thin at the underarms and neck, and Zuko targets these points, as well as aiming his kicks and punches to the sides of her torso, again where her armor is light. The AI becomes unsteady from the pointed blows, and once she does, the fight is over quickly. She rushes one last time, and Zuko suddenly drops into a low stance that sweeps the other warrior off her feet. He signifies the end of the fight by kneeling over her with a clenched fist inches from her face.
"Like I said," he says, as the AI vanishes. "Give it about fourteen years." He eyes Hiccup skeptically. "Maybe fifteen."
no subject
No going from squeezing rocks in a horse stance to defeating seven ninjas by yourself in a day. Sorry Hiccup.
Zuko steps back from the stream, where a wide meadow serves as a sufficient clearing, and waves Hiccup back.
He goes through one of his forms, first, and it doesn't look like anything so much as it looks like Zuko is showing off how quickly he can move, and how high his level of control over his body is. He goes from standing to sprawled on the ground and back in the blink of an eye, and he stops in positions that seem like he shouldn't possibly be able to balance that way, with one foot on the ground and the other up in the air like that, and held there, without even a shiver of effort.
He's graceful. But not like a dancer. Graceful like someone who has such an extensive knowledge of his own body that he can, and does, make it do anything he wants it to do.
"Stacy, I'd like an opponent. One of the Kyoshi Warriors."
The figure that appears is swathed in green, and possibly female. Her hair is long, and her face is painted, and her outfit is very obviously armored. She's holding a pair of golden fans as if they were dangerous.
Fans. Dangerous. Funny, right?
The AI and Zuko stare each other down for a few minutes, circling with careful foot placement. There's a lot about this way of fighting that's different from the Viking way, but the most visible is probably the way that every single motion is precise. Every footfall, every movement of the hands, is deliberate. Considered. Thought-out. This is a thinking warrior's fight.
The AI rushes first. Her technique is one of holds, throws, and specific blocks that turn Zuko's force against him. When she strikes, it's less a strike and more that her hands, her knees, feet, or weapons, are suddenly in the place where Zuko was going, and that breaks his stance. It's a good style. It turns Zuko's strength against him and makes it his weakness.
But Zuko's style is one of speed, evasion, quickness so fast Hiccup could be forgiven for thinking humans just couldn't move that quickly. His reflexes are lightning-quick. His form changes as quickly as a flickering flame.
He disarms the Kyoshi warrior, and the two circle again, unarmed on unarmed opponent, before rushing again, and this time Zuko is distinctly at advantage, in his light plantsuit. The AI's padded armor cushions blows from his fists, but is thin at the underarms and neck, and Zuko targets these points, as well as aiming his kicks and punches to the sides of her torso, again where her armor is light. The AI becomes unsteady from the pointed blows, and once she does, the fight is over quickly. She rushes one last time, and Zuko suddenly drops into a low stance that sweeps the other warrior off her feet. He signifies the end of the fight by kneeling over her with a clenched fist inches from her face.
"Like I said," he says, as the AI vanishes. "Give it about fourteen years." He eyes Hiccup skeptically. "Maybe fifteen."