<div class="floatleft">(http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h215/wontsubmit/waterson1.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Qiang Nuo<br/><strong>Position:</strong>Student<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Near the Courts (After the Daken fight)<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Open<br/><br/>The sound and feel of glass crashing still haunted her dreams and memories.  Waking moments spent remembering the feel of being slammed through front window of a clothing store, of tangled limbs twisted inside expensive fabric.  Blood and shallow cuts tearing at her skin as she flailed against her attacker, all semblance of art and technique gone in a wild frenzy of survival.  Nuo had been unprepared for the savage nature of combat with Draken and for the relentless nature of his powers.  Her own abilities had come up short against him as she laid into him with her best, he only smirked at her and endured the pain.  Endured her until the fire sputtered out and he took his turn.  Staring now at the swaying bag before her, Nuo vowed that her workouts would take a new direction.  No longer would she seek to expel the energy, but to build and harness.<br/><br/>A punching bag gave little energy back to her.  True her own body generated enough to sustain her, but in combat she had to rely on more.  So the black, Kevlar protected surface provided an ample target for her tactics.  Again she stepped forward to rain an endless array of strikes to the surface of the bag.  Blood already showed on the white bandages wrapped around her knuckles.  At one time she had been a champion, a testament to her training and commitment.  Nuo had lost before and so knew the lessons to be learned.  Pain fueled her fire as she struck the bag even faster, feet shifting as she walked around the swaying mass.  Breathes grew rapid as she felt the burn and pressure of her abilities, energy rapidly pushing to emerge but she beat back to desire.  No, each strike was enhanced but only a fraction to preserve her own health and her stamina.  She remembered well the final lesson Draken had taught her about control.<br/><br/>Nuo’s fingers still ached from the punch she had landed to his sternum.  The technique was a common one, a series of strikes to the same center point that would wear away the opponent’s resistance.  A hallmark really of Wing Chun Boxing, yet when applied to Draken her power had been too great.  Against his enhanced skeleton her fingers had broken on the first strike and her other hand still required wrapping from where her wrist had been fractured.  So now she bleed out her energy, seeping only enough to make the heavy bag shift on the chain but not enough to burst the sand.  Nuo continued to walk around the bag, adjusting her strikes with each change in her stance as she walked her fists over the surface.  Above her the sun shined down to highlight the glistening sweat that covered her muscular frame.  Where the grooves of her muscles cut deep into her flesh the sweat pooled into rivers that washed over fading scars from glass and claws.  Wisdom was hard to gain, but she intended to become better.<br/><br/>Quick, sharp kicks punctuated her strikes as her hands grew sore and the ache raced tremors down her arms.  The exercise had only just begun, another lesson as she shifted to accommodate her body’s demands.  Draken had been a quick study of her form, shifting from Wing Chun to a more modern form of Wu Shu with an emphasis on acrobatics and kicks had not deterred him for long.  Too flashy, too much extraneous movements the style was a far cry from the warrior’s art of ancient times.  To date the style had worked against most opponents, but not him.  He had barreled through the displays of athleticism to nail her to the ground.  Grappling was not her style and with injured hands, she stood little chance in close confines.  For that lesson she had turned to Ragnar for help.  Drawing in close to the bag her knees and elbows pressed to the surface.  Short range strikes, required little space to be effective and were useful for making a grappling opponent pay for their close space.  The bag could not help but collapse inward from the power that sounded like a shotgun to those closest.<br/><br/>A final push off from the bag was given, a desperate maneuver for space as both her legs lifted to then lash out before her.  She used the thrust of her abilities to topple the stand and bag while she launched backward to the grass.  Control was another lesson taught that day.  Against Draken her abilities had caused her more harm than she had caused him.  Blood had roared in her ears.  The release of so much energy had been exhilarating, almost sexual.  Confusion warred in her mind even then as to whether she wanted to beat the man’s face into the pavement or have him take her in the tangle of clothing where they grappled.  Control was paramount now.  So when she landed her hands immediately grasped a metal pole placed there before.  Hard and sturdy, she whirled the staff in her hands with expert skill and technique.  Across her palm the surface of the weapon flowed from one hand to the other, twisting and lashing out.  Despite the speed though her mind focused now on the act of striking, but on the method and position of her body as if she were still in competition.  The circus had taken that need for perfection from her as she had gotten lost in the crowd.<br/><br/>Then she turned so that her legs were extended into a near split as her body leapt into a horizontal spin.  Against her body the staff was tucked during the maneuver until she landed, the staff lifted to spin above her head and then lock into place.  A pair of wooden rungs lifted up on either side of her.  Weight was set to her arms so that they flexed visibly and her ankles crossed beneath her.  Stamina and control were now practiced as she resigned in the thumping of her heart and the roar of adrenaline.  Slowly she lifted herself up to the bar before bursting into motion.  In a blur her body exploded open so that she unhooked the bar from the current rung and then into one higher.  The motion was repeated so that she ascended the incomplete ladder, taking the rung with her on her ascent.  Soon she was far above the ground taking herself up to the highest point before shifting her grip for another task.<br/><br/>Below her people could see the tight confines of her Underarmor clothing.  Sports clothing picked up from the mall that day which confined her figure, outlined her shape and provided her with a flexibility few other things could.  Power flexed along her body as she pulled herself upward and then began to lift her body utilizing her arms and abdomen.  Slowly her legs straightened out as her weight was placed to her arms that lifted her and her abdomen that brought her lower body upward.  Teeth bite down as pain cut across her injured hands but she endured to prove her purpose and her strength to herself at least.  Soon she rose to be upside down against the bar, staring down at the grass below as sweat rained down.  Black hair tumbled down to hide her face and cling to her moist skin.  Despite the pain and physical demand, she still smiled easily before her next trick.  Elbows bent before straightening to lift the staff from the ladder.  A rapid descent began from her perch.<br/><br/>A simple descent would not suffice for her.  Instead, keeping her legs straight she leaned backward into a lazy backflip where her legs just seemed to barely come under her to brace her land.  Still those legs did come to land on the ground, spreading out to cushion the impact while the ladder rung turned staff again spun out to her side and behind.  Nuo flipped her black hair upward over her face and onto her back.  Rushing forward she launched into another series of technique focused twists and turns, cutting the staff across the air in a structured formula meant more to focus her abilities than provide combat prowess.  Yet control was hard in coming as she moves become sloppier, more dizzying and clustered.  Frustration gripped her so that she launched upward into the air, her back arching as the staff brought up.  When she came down to the ground she lashed out with kinetic energy.  Against the ground the earth shuddered while vibrations took the staff from her now numb hands.<br/><br/>Still she smiled despite her failure because failure was just another chance to become better.  Failure meant another round of practice.<br/>