Private An Expected Journey

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

High above the two of them, a drone sent by Arken Dobson recorded Lori and Rex Valhoun as they sparred....

As soon as he inhaled, Lori knew that he was up to something. She half expected to be punched, yet instead he tried to drop them to the ground. Lori took a step back, keeping her knees bent in a bid to maintain her balance as she still held her grip on him.

Yet she was struggling as he was heavier than she was. So she let him bring them both down, and twisted herself so that she could try to wrap her legs tight around his to try to make him a little less mobile.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

She held and for a moment Rex was sure his neck would break. But then Loreena fell to the ground as well. A moment of free breathing allowed him to take another quick breath before making his next move. He was now acting on instinct as there was clearly no time to think out a strategy. Here, strength and quickness would be the judge more than technique or strategy.

But something caught the heir's eye as he fell. Something in the air, the size of a bird at first glance, but clearly larger given the height of it. But Rex couldn't look, he needed to finish the spar.

He tried to flip over to a more dominant position that would allow him to punch, choke out, or pin down the young Mandalorian, but he found that somehow she was holding his legs down. That wasn't good. He was practically immobile now. With Loreena to his left, he was half on his back, and half on his side. His left arm couldn't really hit, and his right couldn't reach across his body. With no way to move, his only option was to try and strike Loreena anyways.

First he tried to hit with his right, but he barely had the reach. Then he tried with the left, doing a sort of "hammer" strike with the bottom of his fist. Meanwhile he tried to get some room to move, pulling his legs as hard as he could....​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Cockiness wasn't going to help her win. As he fell down with her and she was nearly on top while trying to keep Rex Valhoun from moving much, Lori was pleased with herself for holding her own as he was obviously bigger and stronger than she was. But there was no gloating to be had. She'd lose right away if she did.

His fists hit her back and left shoulder. Not at all hard given the limitations of his movements, but they still met their marks. His legs worked hard to try to break her grip, yet she hooked her feet at the ankles in order to make it that much more difficult.

Arching her back, Lori reached to try to catch his wrists within her hands so that she could try to stop him from punching her again.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

His kicking was delayed by some sort of movement by Loreena. Meanwhile his punches fell short of having any real affect on the battle, as far as he could tell. Not only was Loreena undeterred...it seemed to strengthen her resolve! She doubled down, making a move for his wrists. He tried to move his hands in a dodge, but she managed to get ahold of his right one, meaning he had very little movement with his left...even less than before. Now she was all but on top of him and had every possible advantage.

His instinct was to headbutt her, but he refrained. He couldn't have her returning with a broken nose, besides he didn't want to deform her face in any way. Crooked noses didn't often look good. Hopefully she'd recognize this as discipline and not a lack of fighting ability.

His second instinct was probably the better one: He rolled right, hoping to throw Loreena off of him and onto the ground to his right. Either this would make her let go long enough for him to get up, or it'd put him on top. Either situation was favorable to the one he was currently in...​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

She managed to catch one of his wrists, yet the other was harder to grab, for Rex Valhoun wasn't making it easy for her. Not that she was expecting him to go easy on her at all, yet it was nice to see that he was putting in a real effort.

Lori didn't expect to be rolled, however. The sudden shift of his weight reversed their positions so that he was now on top of her. Still she kept her legs tightly wound around his, while looking up at him. It was almost a compromising position, causing her to snicker. "Had I known that you wanted to be on top so badly, I'd of let you do so sooner."

While at first she was on the offensive, Lori had now found herself to be on the defensive. She couldn't roll him as he did to her. So instead she used her free hand to bring her palm up underneath his jaw and press upward to lift his head in what could become an uncomfortable position.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Her comment took him off guard, and quickly he realized she was right, it was an awkward position to be in. He felt his face go red, but fortunately Loreena wouldn't see it as she pushed his neck back into an incredibly uncomfortable position. But he was still at an advantage now. In a real fight he'd simply begin pounding his opponent's face with his fist, but again he couldn't do that. Instead he hit toward Loreena's midsection, hoping to take her breath away or make her stop pushing his neck backwards in order to defend herself.

If she didn't, then he'd need to get up, which was a tempting move after her comments, but he was sure he'd find himself back down again shortly, and he didn't want to give up his advantage.​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

And take her breath away, Rex Valhoun did, but not in the dreamy sort of way. His hit to her midsection caught her by surprise, causing her to remove her hand from his chin as she coughed to try to regain her breath once more. She was lucky that he didn't choose to strike her harder.

Still Lori held onto his legs with her own, yet her grip was weakened. However instead of grappling for his wrist like one would expect, she in turn balled her hand into a fist and gave him a punch to his ribs.

Thank the Force he wasn't wearing armour!

 

[Rex Valhoun]

It worked, her grip over his legs loosened, and she stopped pushing his head back. He took the moment to give his own taunt, "What's wrong Loreena? Do I leave you breathless?"

He smirked, but was greeted with a punch to the ribs. He flinched but it hadn't been enough to make him back off. He had the advantage and needed to push it. He didn't need mobility, he just needed to keep this position. If she were to reverse it, she would likely win, but if he could stay on top he could punch, pin down, choke out, or anything in between.

He hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what the best move was. He didn't want to go all out, but Loreena wasn't giving up any time soon. He chose to punch her left shoulder with his right hand. It wasn't a typical move but again he was refraining from hitting her face. By striking her arm, maybe she'd lose some mobility in it. At the least, it would be uncomfortable, and open up another strike to the same spot, which would probably make her change her tactics...​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori snickered a little as Rex Valhoun made his witty comment. She'd of given an even bigger laugh were it not for the fact that they were currently in a spar.

The suckerpunch to her shoulder caught her by surprise. By all means she could just punch his throat, or attack his eyes, nose or teeth. And yet she didn't. She held back as he did. Still Rex was on top of her and that put her at a disadvantage, so she punched his left ear with her right hand, trying to avoid striking his temple.

Both of them were stubborn, competative and wise enough to know when to hold back. But how this would end, she had no idea.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Unlike Rex had when she taunted him, Loreena couldn't contain a small laugh at his comment. But she was far from distracted as suddenly her fist was flying toward his face. He flenched, and the fist his his temple. Pain shot through his face, and he grunted, getting off Loreena and onto his feet as he recovered. It may not have been an intentional strike but it had worked for Loreena as Rex's advantage was now gone.

He shook his head, shaking off the punch and taking a defensive position again. They were back to beginning of the duel. Each had landed a punch on the other, and the end to the duel was far from decided.

"Alright, Lori, now show me how an actual Mandalorian fights."

A gutsy taunt, borderline nasty, but it had flown off his lips as if he trash talked every day. Hopefully there wouldn't be any consequences...​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Oh crap! She didn't mean to hit him there! At least it wasn't a punch done with full force, but still, hitting the temple could be dangerous. Why did Rex Valhoun have to move?! It might of been instinct, but it did little to protect what is a vulnerable spot.

Lori got to her feet after Rex did, dusting herself off a little before rotating her shoulder that he had punched mere minutes earlier. That too was a vulnerable spot and had he of struck her harder, the joint would have popped out of the socket. But be that as it may, Rex had not used his full strength either.

She got into a defensive position, smirking a little at his taunt and responding with a little taunt of her own. "Are you sure you can handle it? You barely held your own already..."

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Rex smirked as she countered his taunt with a truthful one. Indeed, he had barely held his own so far, but the fact was, he had held his own. Now a change of tactics was in order. So far he had been incredibly defensive and restrained. Now he would be aggressive and hold nothing back. Of course he'd still avoid hitting her in the face..

He laughed, shrugging, "Well, Lori-" Then he quickly sprinted toward her, feinting a left jab, then swinging a right hook toward her side. He hoped the feint worked because if it hadn't, she would probably end the fight with some fancy Mandalorian move here...​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Rex Valhoun came at her fast and quick. The tables had turned and he was now the aggressor.

His fist struck her right side and she grunted as it once again took the wind out of her, before laying out a reactive punch to his sternum with her left fist, followed by a kick to his left knee.

In a true fight she'd of gone for his throat, even used a weapon, but this wasn't a true fight. This was a spar.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Rex grunted as Loreena reacted with two lighting quick and precise strikes. The one to his chest was the more painful of the two, it was almost crippling as the pain lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Nothing was broken or damaged, it was just a sensitive area. He took a step back in retreat, tripping due to the kick she had delivered to his knee.

He was certainly feeling the fight now, and his strike her her side hadn't done much to deter her. But maybe she was just good at hiding tiredness and pain? He'd stay in the fight a bit longer...just in the case that he was actually winning.

He moved in, throwing a jab with his right hand, putting everything he had into it. He knew she would block it, that was the plan. He'd hit her arms with a lot of force, hopefully making them sore and thus more sensitive for the rest of the spar. It was a mean move but it was better than hitting her face. His options were limited, so it was a fair move. He just hoped it worked.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori clenched her jaw as Rex Valhoun stumbled back. She kept her stance battle ready, however now both her shoulder and her ribs were sore. The latter was sore the most. No ribs were broken, but they were as sure as heck bruised.

He came after her again, going for her side once more. She grabbed his wrist and pushed down. His fist still struck, but at least it was on her hip instead. She retaliated with a kick to his thigh, which in itself was risky. He could just as easily grab her leg and take her down. That is if he didn't stumble back again first.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Lori had deflected his punch, which lost some momentum and hit her hip...possibly hurting Rex more than it hurt Loreena. She followed up with a kick directed at his thigh, but this time he was ready, catching her leg before it hit him. Now the advantage was completely his, Loreena would struggle to balance and there was no way she could reach him...he'd simply push her back by the leg.

"Well Lori...looks like I win. Unless you have some Mandalorian trick, that is..."

He followed the taunt by pushing her leg toward her, which would make her hop back, proving that he had control over her at this point.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori smirked as Rex Valhoun taunted her. Indeed he had her leg and held control over her balance. There wasn't a lot that she could do.

Unless.....

No, it was too late for her to drop and swing her other leg to sweep him, for Rex had pushed her back which nearly made her stumble. She wrapped an arm around her side, favouring her bruised ribs. "I do have a trick, but I don't want to hurt you. So...I'll let you win this time. Next time though, you may not be so lucky." Lori gave him a playful smirk and then headed back over to their camp, lifting her shirt a little to see if her skin was turning fancy colours yet. It was starting to, but it wasn't as though she was going to let him know. Bruised ribs weren't fun to deal with. They lowered her lung capacity.

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Had it been a true fight, Rex certainly would have lost. Well, probably would have lost. Loreena's words reinforced that point...she had a trick. Rex smirked a bit as they walked back to camp. He was pretty tired and his head was a bit sore where Lori had punched it, as was his chest. But it was nothing serious, he'd be less tired in the morning and his bruises weren't enough to slow him down.

"Alright Ms. Arenais..." He said, slowly pronouncing her last name and hoping he didn't mess it up, "Anything else you want to do today, or should we get some sleep?"

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori glanced over at Rex Valhoun as he took his time to pronounce her family name. It was almost funny, but she didn't want to laugh at him for trying. The spelling and pronouncing of it was a bit off. Different accents had a way of making it sound even funnier too. Yet at least he was trying. And no doubt it was a name that he might have to get used to saying out loud to people.

"Oh just call me Lori. I only get called Ms. Arenais when I'm in trouble by someone wanting to boast their superiority over me." She gingerly sat herself down by the fire that was still going. The heat was sure to help prevent any stiffness that was bound to creep up.

"I think that I'll have something to eat before calling it a night. I worked up an appetite. You fight well, by the way. You've got good instincts. Trouble tends to find me, so that'll probably be put into use at some point in the future."

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Rex was exhausted, his energy was rapidly retreating with the adrenaline from the spar. Sitting down hadn't helped, and now he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get up. Sleep sounded nice. But he'd wait for Lori to choose when to sleep. It'd be rude to head to bed if she still wanted to talk.

He grinned when she told him to call her Lori. It was a habit of his to call people by their last name, it was easier for some reason, and seemed more professional. He'd need to get used to calling her Lori though, even if it wasn't natural to him.

She then complimented his fighting skills, or at least his instincts. That was a good compliment coming from someone with Mandalorian training, and he couldn't help but smile for what was probably the 30th time so far. "Thanks, I'm surprised I held my own."