Match of the Millennium

Description: After Hayley's training session, Lita and Hayley discuss the previous tournaments and how they each are dealing with having multiple martial arts styles.

[HAYLEY]
Lunch at Hayley's residence here in rural China is a spartan affair. She would have lead Lita to a sparse meditation garden slightly away from the school's main (and only building). Lunch consists mostly of a rice and vegetable stir fry, though Hayley has managed to scrounge up a few pork buns for the special occasion. Since her training session she's shed her martial arts shirt for a sportier tank and she's desperately tried to tie her dark blue hair back enough to cook and eat.

At the moment she's seated on a three foot tall rock with her legs crossed. She gestures with her chopsticks while talking.

"So...yeah. I've been trying to go back and work on my core. My sifu here has been real helpful. Apparently me mum knows him from working in the movies sometime, but I think he was in the military or the police or something too. Don't wanna ask too much. He's...one of those stern, quiet blokes, y'know? Nice guy though."

Birds chirp nearby. One can faintly here a nearby stream in the woods not too far from the school. The nearest town is a short walk, but long enough that foot traffic is limited. It's no wonder that someone wanting to get away from things would come here.

[LITA]
Meanwhile, Lita dutifully follows Hayley, glancing around as she follows both taking in the sights and determining how she would utilize each loose object in the area as a weapon. At that point it's pretty much an automatic thing she does. Since she didn't spar, she still continues to wear her workout wear, and her hair is tied back still. Her hair seems to still fall in front of her eyes.

When finally seated to eat, she lets her lunch companion continue to talk. Considering the time she had spent in Japan, the blonde Ikari seems fairly comfortable using chopsticks.

"So does that mean you're going to be building off of a Bajiquan base? If so, will there be any integration of the other martial arts you had studied?"

She continues to go back to eating the stir fry and enjoying nature if there was one thing she liked about Ikari life was that it was off the beaten path. That was the reason that she liked being in this location in rural China.

[HAYLEY]
"Oh, of course. I've dabbled with so many things I don't think I can base it off just one." Hayley answers, mixing the contents of her bowl with her chopsticks. She points with them almost lazily, pushing mid-sentence to blow her hair up out of her face.

"But there's definitely some Wing Chun in there, too. I've been trying to focus more, y'know? I think part of my problem was spreading myself a little too thin, maybe."

[LITA]
Lita nods while she chews as she mulls over the words that Hayley is saying as she thinks about her experiences with learning multiple martial arts and how it was a bit of the opposite for her.

"Understandable. I came into learning multiple martial arts after starting with military combatives as my base. In my case, I came into it wanting learning multiple weapon arts. However in some of the martial arts, the unarmed martial arts is compulsory before they will let you learn the weapons. As a result, I've added concepts to my unarmed fighting what I was already doing but discarding what I didn't feel work for me."

She pauses for a moment as she picks up a bit of food, and just as it gets close to her mouth, she holds the chopsticks with stir fry held up.

"I still think at times I'm a little too unfocused, myself. My team mates on my King of Fighters team were significantly more specialized than I was. However my value to the team was that I wasn't as specialized. I had enough experience in multiple styles, that I could help them prepare for whoever they were likely face. Maybe not at that opponent's level, but enough that they knew what to expect."

[HAYLEY]
"Hmm..." Hayley raises the chopsticks to her mouth, tapping the ends against her lips. "So y'started with military martial arts? Like, something like MCMAP, or Krav Maga, or Syste--oh, sorry. Kind of nerding out a little." She picks up another piece of stir fry and pops it into her mouth. "It's kind of interesting just how much there is even there even if some of the principles overlap. Though I'd never seen one quite like what Leona uses..."

"Um, anyway. So how did that go with the tournament? You said you had some pretty crazy teammates, right? What did they specialize in?"

[LITA]
While Hayley nerds out, Lita's smiling. After all, she'd be nerding out too as it were. She pops the stir fry piece in her mouth before she speaks again.

"Defendu. Also known as Gutter Fighting. It has origins in World War Two though it was modified a bit in Delta Red. The heavy sword style I started picking up as soon as people found out that I played cricket when I was in high school."

She starts to move towards her pork buns thoughtfully picking it up. And that's when she gets asked about her team mates.

"The captain was Daniel Little who I don't really blame for how chaotic our team became. He specialized in Todoh Ryu Kobojutsu which had a lot of similarities to Judo. Then we had Sergei Dragunov who specialized in Combat Sambo."

[HAYLEY]
"Huh, I think I've heard a bit about Defendu, but--" Hayley starts to say something. A thought seems to linger on the tip of her tongue, but she stops herself. "--I'm not as familiar with it as some of the other ones. --cricket though? Huh. Did you like it? Ever think about doing it professionally?"

"Mmm. Never heard of Todoh-ryu before. Combat Sambo I've heard of. They do this one leg scissor thing that I like a lot. ...kinda borrowed it myself."

[LITA]
Lita nibbles at the pork bun before holding it up and looking at it with a smile. She has been enjoying the lunch so far. She then raises an eyebrow.

"I loved playing cricket. Unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to make much of a living off of it. Plus military was paying for my education."

A beeping sound comes from Lita's pocket. She looks down and pulls out her phone and looks at it with a frown.

---

Recall Notice:

Leadership of Ikari Warriors has been assumed by Colonel Ralf Jones
Lieutenant Leona Heidern is to assume Field Command duties during the time Colonel Jones assumes Command.
All Ikari Warriors are to return to base by 1600Z on 28 MAY XX
Further instructions will be given upon return of all units.

Signed:
Colonel Ralf Jones

---

Lita looks up from the message on her phone.

"All Ikari are being recalled."

[HAYLEY]
Hayley picks up a pork bun and takes a sizeable bite. She chews it for several moments while Lita talks, but it also seems to be a way of pacing herself. Perhaps for the sake of politeness, Hayley seems to be taking her time with her eating--probably a sharp contrast from the damage she'd do in the mess hall after her rescue from Shadaloo.

"Aw, roight. I understand that I think. I've been kind of fortune money wise becau--" Hayley blinks, her eyes getting wider. "Really? I hope it's nothing too serious. Is everyone alroight?"

[LITA]
"I think so. It just mentions Leona taking on field command duties. It also could have something to do with the King of Fighters tournament."

Lita had gone from a polite eating pace to practically shoveling the food into her mouth. At this point, Lita knows that she's going to need to get her energy up for her journey to the Ikari Base. When she is finished with the food in front of her she then hops to her feet and bows.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

[HAYLEY]
"Oh, of course! Thank you for coming by," Hayley says, planting a hand on the rock and pushing herself to her feet. She shoves the rest of her own meat bun in her mouth, but she sets the bowl aside for the moment. "I do hope everything's okay, I mean, that does sound a bit serious..." Hayley wipes her hand on her pant leg and then runs it through her hair, tugging on it a bit.

"...would it be alright if I came along? I mean, I was thinking about the invitation still..."

[LITA]
"I have to get in contact with the Ikari leadership to get a better idea of what's going on. If it is tournament related, then yes, you will be coming back with me."

With that, Lita starts making calls on her cellphone as she steps away to talk for a few moments. She then nods, dials another number and talks to them for a few moments and after awhile comes back to Hayley.

"Pack your bags if you're coming, luv. We have a long trip ahead of us."

[HAYLEY]
"Okay," Hayley says, giving Lita a firm nod. She goes back to eating her rice in peace while the phone conversation is had, putting herself far enough away to not eavesdrop.

When Lita returns with the news? Hayley stands at attention, giving her another quick nod. "Right! I'll go get my stuff and let sifu know." She takes off, grabbing Lita's empty bowl and chopsticks as she does.

"And Lita?" she calls back. "--thanks."

Log created on 16:31:34 05/30/2019 by Lita, and last modified on 13:08:13 05/31/2019.