<strong>Name:</strong>Izzy<br/><strong>Time:</strong>10:00 AM<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Celeste's Villa, Training Grounds<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Rein, open<br/><hr/><hr/><br/>"Hmph."<br/><br/>Rein had just tried to open Izzy up, connecting with her on being unhappy about losing, and voicing that many of the fighters here were grateful that they had.  Izzy knew something about both of those sides, but her reply was as taciturn as ever, swinging her leg into the sandbag even harder this time.  They were complicated emotions, and she didn't feel like talking about them in the least.  Maybe sometime, when she felt she could trust the wolf a little more.<br/><br/>As they switched positions on the punching bag, his comment about sand in his fur made her slump her shoulders and smirk at him.  Possibly the closest expression to laughter she'd ever given him.  He knew what she'd meant, the expression said, but she didn't dwell on it.  She gripped the bag, planted her feet, and let him have a go.<br/><br/>Her slighter frame wasn't built for tanking blows, so she had to rely on Qi Gong centering techniques.  Holding the sandbag was as much a training session for her as it was for the wolf on the other side.  She blinked a little, watching him move.  His footwork was impressive.  Unlike her own sandbag practice, the wolf made full use of feints, a variety of motions and a full flurry of blows.  She wasn't terribly fond of repeat kicks herself, but the fact remained that he got an awful lot of power out of that one leg, forcing her to readjust her center slightly to compensate.  Her eyes widened a little as he came down from a strike and started pounding out the hits from the same leg.<br/><br/>Sadly, the force of those repeat kicks started waning as he felt the burn through his leg, until he stopped to take a rest.  Izzy looked him over, her expression difficult to read as either impressed or disappointed.  "Can I try?" she murmured, stepping back around to the front of the bag.  Almost as soon as she'd assumed a stance, her first sidekick rammed into the burlap, followed by a similar flurry of multiple kicks.  His rapid-fire kicks were better than her own, as they both knew.  She didn't regularly practice them because they weren't congruent with her fighting style.  But she still gave the sandbag everything she had, planting her hooves into it in a top-to-bottom-to-top row and striking as hard and fast as she could, for as long as she could go.  She was curious if she could go longer than he did, but there were too many factors to really let that be the question here.  What she really cared about were the aches and pains he seemed to be feeling, and where they were located.<br/><br/>When she stopped, she took a moment to stand on her left leg and stretch her right, twisting it thoughtfully.  "I see why your leg work's so great." she remarked, bending her knee a little, listening to where the soreness was located.  Kicking like that was a strenuous kind of training. And while she appreciated his well developed leg muscles, she wondered what kind of damage that might have done if he did this often.  He didn't seem pleased with himself for doing it at all, which was telling.  Lifting her knee upwards and slowing raising her hoof over her head, Izzy let the limb taper slowly to the ground, hopping on it twice to test it once it was under her.  "Hm.  I still prefer running.  It sustains the leg, if you do it right." she muttered, remembering a piece of wisdom she and Ludis had passed between themselves.<br/><br/>It wasn't her favorite thought.  She liked her alone time, naturally.  But, where training was concerned, this was work.  "How soon do you wake up in the mornings?  You should join me sometime, if you can stand me that long."<br/><br/>A moment later, her ears twitched slightly, and she turned her head to another part of the villa, hearing something whooshing.  Her eyes narrowed and she sighed.  "Master Onyx is awake." she muttered, with just a hint of venom in her voice.  Izzy wasn't dumb enough to think she was fooling her master by leaving early, but Onyx was good at keeping herself hidden, even if she was tracking her morning routine.  Still, the fact that she was awake meant that the most unpleasant part of the day was soon to follow.  She believed Onyx had once referred to it as 'cardio.'  Whatever gets your heart rate up, or some equally lascivious excuse.<br/><br/>She looked back at Rein, finally angry enough to just flat out ask him: "Do you want to spar?"