You politely listen to you friend's concerns. Given all that the two of you have been through you found their fears to be valid although Xin Lan was never one to exaggerate or dance around the point when they were serious. A trait that only served to punctuate what they said as they didn't hide it within a joke or a tease. "Xin, I don't intend to use magic or even want you to attempt to remember what was done to you." You stroke your chin as think about how best to explain your intent. "I don't want to completely cut my emotions out. Hmm..." You pause again. "This new style is supposed to be empathetic. To truly understand their suffering or anger. To that extent I need to be able to ignore everything else. Any anger I have towards them, or fear, or perhaps even doubt. If wanted to use this style then I can't be angry if they're holding you, Ming, or Ren hostage. You're the best at doing that sort of thing and given that you can do it at will, I was hoping you can teach me.""It seems rather limiting. I mean the reason you're fighting someone is because you're angry at them." Xin Lan points out. "Do you really think you can empathize with say...the guy who destroyed the Library?" You go quiet. You weren't sure about that. You did defeat the ones who were behind that atrocity and even let them live but you couldn't say you did it because you felt bad for them. You're not sure if you could do the same for whoever sent the order out."Well, I suppose for now I'd try to use it against those who are simply lost. People who are simply lashing out. I think it's at least worth learning for purpose. Someone who doesn't really want to hurt others but they think they have no other option isn't the same as say a bandit or raider who sees themselves above morality." You explain. Xin Lan might have a point but you'd be glad if you could use it to pacify innocent people at least. Xin Lan tilts their head."There's plenty of styles for that. Or you can just hit their Chi points like you always do." They point out. "Yes, but there's the challenge of it. It's like...writing a whole new story. Or discovering a new medicine. Right now, it's less about it's use but more about making it. We might never find it's true potential but now it exists. Someone else can find it, learn it, and take it to new heights I could never dream of. Just thinking of that...I think it makes it worth it." You eagerly. Xin Lan let's out a sigh before moving to lay on their back with a bit of a struggle."You're being weird." They say and you take their tone to indicate they had be placated and their worries assuaged. "I can't help it." You say. "So can you help?""I dunno..." They admit. "You're asking for something weird. To not feel and feel at the same time. You know I don't work like that right?""Well then let's just start with not feeling things then. We can work in the other part later. Small steps."
"I'll need some time to think...for now go and do some people watching." They say. You give them a look."You know I can memorize pretty much anything I see. If this is about focus, it won't be an issue." You reply. "Well that's the issue. Unless there's danger, it's kinda hard to force you to not care about anything that's not the mission. I mean, there is the tried and true method everyone else used to kinda do it but I'd never make you do it." Xin Lan says. "I'm gonna regret asking but...what is it?" You say exasperated."Go kill Ming." They say simply. You glare at them."That's not funny Xin Lan. Not even remotely." You growl."I wasn't joking." They continue tonelessly before speaking with full range. "It was common to have recruits to fall in love with someone then have them kill them as a final test. It's meant to teach them to put aside everything for the mission. Barring someone not falling in love, they'd kill their partner. Someone they grew up with, trained with, and even did some jobs with. Stripes never told you about that did he?" You stay silent for a moment. "No." You say. "Well...how about some kind of test?" You suggest, eager to get away from the subject. "Well...I mean it can't be pain because you'd just ignore it and you're always willing to get hurt to get things done." Xin Lan furrows their brow as they think hard. "Well...I guess we can make you meditate on your anger while you focus on dodging stuff?" They snap their fingers. "You can fight Tigress and do it. I'm sure she'd be willing to dislocate a few of your limbs." You give Xin Lan another glare. "No no! Think about it. You need someone who can fight you while you while you let go of your feelings right? The two of you have tons of tension. If you can fight her while being able to let go, you we might be able to I dunno...go find bandits and try it.">What do you say?>Tell Xin Lan this is a terrible idea. There's no way Tigress would agree to this.>Say that you don't really have a choice but you're unsure how you'd convince Tigress to spar with you.>Agree with their plan but say that Xin Lan has to be the one to set up the fight.>Try and come up with your own training method. (Write in)
I do apologize for the absence anons. I fell ill with a fever over the last few days and was bed ridden for most of it. Dragons know what I caught but I'm finally up and about.
>>5987772This is a terrible idea. Just. . Absolutely abysmal. Effectively using somebody else to clean our mental state out, when that person wishes to clobber us.I'm still gonna do it. And dare the other anons to stop me, because Xin cannot be trusted to not antagonise Tigress into a rage.>Accept the idea.>Not sure how we would do it, but maybe being direct? Asking to Spar out of a desire to Ease the gulf, Or if she is being obstinate, Directly claim to give her the shot at validating her training. We know that we are the best master on the mountain and she trained to overcome us. Why not take the chance to surpass herself.This second method is going thermonuclear, and will absolutely piss her off. But if it works, She might work through her shit with her fists.Doubtfully. But she might.
>>5987776Fuck man, Had something similar about two weeks ago.Hope you are recovered and took your meds Luo.Renshu also made a decent showing in the husbando catagory. 6 or 7 votes, I think it was.
>>5987772>Tell Xin Lan this is a terrible idea. There's no way Tigress would agree to this.>Do it anyways.This is the way to do it with peak comedy.
>>5987954Whoa that's awesome. Not sure how far our boy has gotten but I'm glad he got some votes. Appreciate whoever threw out his name there. Tried to keep up with the thread for a day or so but I saw everyone else's characters and imposter syndrome hit real quick but I'm glad everyone else's quests are thriving. I should take a peek at them. Also thanks for concern. I pretty much had to drop everything that entire week. Now i'm playing catch up. >>5987953>>5988265Gonna go pick a fight with our younger sibling. Like all good families do...right?
"Xin...that's a terrible idea." You say. Xin Lan somehow manages to shrug while laying down despite the extra weight on them. You sigh and shake your head, "Alright. I guess we have no other ideas do we." You say as you stand up. Xin Lan raises their arms and wiggles their fingers for help which you ignore. "You're staying here and continuing your training. Once you're done you can come watch." You add."What?! But it was my idea! How am I gonna teach you stuff when I can't see you?" They protest while working to get up. "You didn't think I'd let you skip out on training just so you can see Tigress get mad did you?" You smirk. In truth, you were a bit worried that Xin Lan's presence would probably make things a bit more awkward when you approached Tigress. More importantly, you were worried they'd try and antagonize her. "Make sure you clean up once you're done or I'll send Ming after you." You say as you walk off just in time to see a pebble miss your ear. ---It takes a surprising amount of time to find Tigress. Despite the fact that you traveled with two assassins, you never took her to be the kind of person who liked hiding although it shouldn't be a shock that sneaking around would be part of her training. Eventually, you do track the lone tiger down and find her quietly meditating stop a series of precariously stacked chairs. It reminds you of when you spent a few days atop the large trees of the forest when you were being chased by the monster of the woods. You approach and come to a stop. You weren't sure how to ask her to fight you.>What do you do?>Call out to her and tell her you want to Spar. Be direct about it.>Tell Tigress you want to train with her. Say that if you were going to travel together you should learn to fight with each other. Plus she won't improve by practicing alone.>Kick the chairs from under her. A real threat wouldn't come up and ask for her permission. Try and take her by surprise.>Write in
>>5988414>Be direct.We can be domineering if we want but. . I dunno. Adopting the mask of a villain and a manipulator seens unneeded here.
>>5988414>"I'm here to challenge you to a fight, Tigress. It's going to happen whether you accept it or not. Show me your progress, and prove that you've improved since last time."Still in awe at how thoroughly outmatched she was the first time they fought. Bro had been outright sprinting for days and he STILL beat the ass of the entire furious five without breaking a sweat. If we're being honest, Tigress never stood a chance. But I'm curious to see if she stands one now.
>>5988426>>5988832Just being direct. Writing>>5988832Don't forget he also fought her with a 5v1 handicap and still won. Not only that but he built up enough momentum to turn the thick bridge ropes into a whip to flick himself across a canyon midfight. Now that strength is being used to hug his loved ones.
"Tigress! I'm here to challenge you to a spar! I want to see how much you improved before we leave." You call out. Tigress furrows her brow in annoyance as your voice rings out. You half expected her to ignore you or perhaps to claim that she has nothing to prove to you. Instead she opens her eyes and gives you an ice cold glare. "Why?" She asks. "There's far better ways to train than using the spare kitchen set." You say. "I would use the training hall but I'd rather be able to focus than to listen to you and the rabbit prattle on." She replies coolly. "It wouldn't hurt to join us." You half lie. In truth, you thought that it would end in disaster if Xin Lan and Tigress were in the same room. Xin Lan's rejection of authority combined with their dislike of Tigress was a powder keg waiting to go off and Tigress's anger was just the spark to ignite it. You wonder how you're going to deal with this on the road. To Tigress you continue with, "If we're going to travel and fight together then we'll have to become comfortable with how we all fight. Even you know how badly things can go if we're not synchronized." Tigress continues to stare at you with her piecing gold eyes. The two of you stand there looking at one another for a long while neither making a move. Eventually Tigress makes her move. Either realizes she has nothing to refute you with or perhaps she sees it as an opportunity to hurt you, you cannot say but she leaps from her perch with a chair between her legs. She glides through the air for a bit before kicking back and knocking over the stack behind her. The chairs rain down and land in two neat stacks as if placed there by hand before Tigress lands before you ready to fight.>How do you engage?>Use your strength to grapple her and pin her down.>Try and throw her back into the chairs, make the area difficult to navigate.>Use your speed to try and overwhelm her.>Write in.
>>5990560Tigress! Tigress! TIGRESS!>Knock her back into the chairs, use them for maneuverability and to disrupt her footing.>"There are better ways than using the kitchen set, Such as the living room furniture, hahaha."Engage Yakuza style martial arts. Furniture style.
>>5990764Dad is gonna yell at his kids once he finds out the chairs are broken because of their fighting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7FLlQGXErY Without missing a beat you move to engage with Tigress following suit clearly intending for the two of you to clash. You leverage your speed and dip under a spinning kick and following up with a swift kick behind Tigress's knee. It buckles slightly but your primary goal was to prevent her from turning back around to face you as wrap your arms around her waist to hold her. She struggles to break free from your grip but without any kind of leverage or something to grab on the attempt is impossible allowing you to follow up with a suplex. Midway through, however, you loosen your grip and let go causing your opponent to fly forward and allowing you to plant your hands on the ground and spring upwards once more. You plant your feet into her back and kick outwards rocketing Tigress into the tower of neatly stacked chairs and toppling them. "There are better ways of using the kitchen set you know. Mishandling them could cause...accidents." You taunt as you channel a bit of Xin Lan. You feel of twinge of guilt as you try to goad Tigress but if she lost her cool in the heat of a real fight then it would only cause trouble...at least you tried to justify it that way. The pile of chairs explodes as Tigress bursts out of them with a growl and hurls several at you forcing you to bob and weave through them to close the gap. You leap over one, duck under another and slip to the side to avoid the oncoming furniture. Just as you clear last one, Tigress grabs you by the shirt and hooks her leg behind you having used the chairs to create a blind spot for her to slip through. She roughly pulls you down as she pulls your leg up for a take down. Time seems to slow all around you as you both trade blows during the brief seconds the two of you spend in the air before crashing into the hard stone floor. You feel an elbow driven into your ribs when you twist to avoid it hitting you just under the sternum and driving the wind out of you. Despite your best efforts, Tigress refuses to let go of one of your arms as she holds it in a vice grip and is attempting to deny you any space to fall back to or open up a gap.>What do you do?>Slam her into the ground. If she doesn't want to let go then you'll simply use your strength against her. >Close the gap further and attempt to get her into a lock. If she can't move then she can't attack. >Grab something nearby from the environment to try and pry her off or make her let go. (What do you grab?)>Write in.
>>5991985>Substitute your arm for your tail, assault her with more limbs than she can keep up with thanks to one of her own being occupied by your arm.Sorry Tigress, but unless you've been training that tail up like Tai Lung has, you're at an innate disadvantage. There's virtually no difference between a tail and an arm or a leg as far as he's concerned.
>>5991985I'll support >>5992025Fuck it, we got 5 limbs fools!
>>5992220The cats are fighting! But our cat is bigger. Writing
>>5992722I come back to see that my post did not go through...damn.
You were impressed by Tigress's plan at least in concept. She was attempting to deny you the advantage you had for being taller by preventing you from being able to draw back and strike. In staying this close, you had less options and attempts to attack would leave you open with no ability to dodge or evade. Such a tactic would have served well to lock down an opponent while maintaining a full on attack. However, you weren't just any opponent and her strategy came with an obvious drawback. It was a double edge sword and in denying her opponent room to maneuver and defend so did she lose her ability to do the same. You use your legs to lock Tigress's down before shifting your body to pin her arms under the one she was clinging to. It was a bit of a mess and it looked more like you were simply trying to sit atop her but the awkward positioning allowed you to drive your only free elbow between her shoulders. Tigress was no fool and she headbutts you with the back of her head and begins to shift her position. The two of you roll around the ground attempting to get the upperhand. You strike with everything you had arms, legs, knees, elbows but Tigress returns equal fervor. Even on the ground, the two of you knock chairs arounds, topple vases, and crush some plants. It was clear that something needed to change or the two of you were simply going to spend the rest of the day giving one another cuts and bruises. >What do you do?>Aim for the steps. Falling down them would probably cause the two of you to split in an attempt to break your falls. >Turn it up a notch and simply tear Tigress off of you. You're not really supposed to escalate a spar but you don't really have anything else.>Just hug Tigress. Fighters are more than just who's stronger. There's also the mental aspect. Simply hugging her would probably confuse her enough to throw her off her game.>Write in.
>>5993326>Down the stairs.Scene transition! Get em outside! More space to move and more time to fight.More spectators to increase the emotional tension as we meditate.
>>5993401We're throwing ourselves off the nearest stairs. Not the dumbest thing we've done. Writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEGflonuZAThe two of you continue to continue to tumble around the ground and you pull up your mental map of the palace to devise a new strategy. Clearly the two of you were not going to concede in this grapple so the only way to make some breathing room for you was to forcibly separate the two of you. You begin to try and shift the fight towards the closet ledge or stairs you can remember. If the fall was bad enough then you both would have to let go lest you wanted to risk breaking your necks. Doing this was easier thought up than done as you receive a elbow to your jaw for your troubles. It seems like Tigress had the opposite intention and didn't want to give up ground nor shift around. Perhaps in her mind, her plan was going exactly as she wanted it. You blink back tears as your eyes begin to water involuntarily from the strike. Falling off a ledge on purpose and without proper foot was dumb enough as it is but you suppose a bit more of stupid decisions wouldn't hurt...much. You drop your guard slightly and feel the first of the many hits. Tigress's fist bounces off your rib cage the instant you begin to loosen your guard but you being to put your plan into motion. You shove your opponent to the side only to have her pull you along with her just as you anticipated. You begin to put you plan into motion and slowly hiding your maneuvering towards the stairs behind the hits you were taking. With one last push the two of you go flying off of the stairs. You bounce once and mercifully the two of you part as you fall. Landing gives you no time to spare as you catch your fall and see Tigress break her fall and sweep her leg to fling a loose tile at your face. You catch it between your fingers, spin, and hurl it back just in time for it to crash into a second tile, shattering the two. The two of you close the distance once more but Tigress hops on the steps to try and get the higher ground. You take the chance to leap back and create some space, nearly bumping into Ming and some of the Brotherhood. "What are you and Xin up to this time? We can hear you smashing things from across the courtyard." She scolds. "I'm not doing anything. It's the big guy who's being a very bad boy." Xin Lan calls out as they leap down from a nearby roof and land next to you. Ming confused for a moment before she notices Tigress who's fur was messy and ruffled just like yours. >What do you do?>Write in.
>>5997808>Write in>Explain that you were trying to develop a technique that requires fighting an opponent without getting angry and sparring with Tigress was the least bad idea you two had.
>>5997808>"Will explain later! Sparring!">leap into the air and strike from above, she has the high ground but we have a power to leap.>>5997913Best not say that straight up.
