((RE: Aron. From here. Self-modded, moves made with consent of both parties.))

Matsi bowed her head slightly as she settled into position. She shuffled her feet outward, shoulder-width apart, bending her knees and bearing her weight on the balls of her feet, her heels hovering imperceptibly over the sandy earth. She raised her arms up, hands curved but not balled into fists, ready for anything.

She gave her shoulders a strong, preparatory roll, "May your limbs be strong."

"And your eyes wide." Aron gave the reply as any respectful warrior, though it was often with some disdain that she would recieve the response, as many who had ventured to fight her had made the statement with a clear tone of amusement at the irony. She made no move to attack Matsi, instead holding back as was normal for her, to gauge her opponent's movements.

Matsi pressed her lips together at the cruel irony, but only shook her head slightly. Now she was in fighter's mode. It was only her, and her opponent.

She took several smooth steps to the right, moving in closer and gauging her smaller opponent, her feet set firmly in the sand. It was eerie to see the sightless eyes follow her, and the subtle turn in response to her movement.

Experimentally, she launched a left-handed jab at the girl's partially-exposed left ribcage.

Aron turned with her opponent, easily deciphering the differences between her own footsteps and Matsi’s. There was the sound of flesh whipping the air, a small breeze- instinctually she was able to gauge where her opponent was aiming, and stepped back, bringing her hand down quickly in an attempt to block the jab- if she pulled this off correctly, she would be able to turn Matsi’s attack back on her, buying the time to make a kick at her opponent's side.

Matsi was surprised by the accuracy of the block. Only her training saved her from the full brunt of the deflection. She saw a flurry of motion coming up at her side. It was a deft movement, and she wasn't fully able to block the attack, but she moved with the kick, cushioning the full force. She wrapped her arm around Aron's leg and pushed at her opposite shoulder, hoping to overbalance her and knock her to the ground.

Aronel recognized this move from her many spars with her master. So it would be a grapple, the second step in battle, then they would move to ground fighting- the third stage. Remembering the move as her master had taught her, She grabbed the hand that was pushing her left shoulder with her left hand, leaning back with it, pivoting her right hip into her opponent to balance herself, she slid her left foot (the one still on the ground) behind Matsi's right in a swift motion, and adding to the force of her hip with her right hand against Matsi's opposite shoulder she attempted to guide her opponent backwards to fall to the ground- these movements were simultaneous; quick and forceful. With her legs wrapped around Matsi, if Matsi fell so would Aron, but it would be to Aron's advantage; she would be the one straddling Matsi and would be free to end the match quickly. But this was several steps ahead of her; the fate of the battle rested on how well she pulled off these combinations.

Matsi recognized the movement, and appreciated the skill and heart with which Aron fought. She could feel the force behind the movements, and knew that Aron was trying to tip her onto her back. At the rate they were currently going, it would work, but if she added some force of her own...

She leaned in with the movement and pushed off with her rear foot. Curling into the fall they landed first on her back, and then rolled onto Aron's, Matsi's left wrist still clutched by Aron, Matsi's right arm over her opponent's shoulder, and her torso crossed over Aron's. It wasn't as advantageous a position as she would have liked, as Aron's legs were free, while her own were underneath her.

They had gone down as Aron had expected, however she was shocked by Matsi's twisting maneuver, the skill with which her opponent twisted the momentum of their fall. She recovered quickly enough, sending both knees into Matsi's stomach as Matsi began to fall into Aron, much like a cat clawing the underbelly of it's opponent. At the same time, she held fast to Matsi's wrists, hoping to flip her over.

Matsi let out a mere grunt as her opponent's knees made forceful contact with her abs. The force, added to their own tumble, was enough to tip her further. She curled her head in as she saw the earth careening toward her face, pushing out her arm from its position on Aron's shoulder and tipping up onto it (earning some scrapes in the process) before finally crumpling sideways onto her shoulder, then back.

She jerked her head back to look at her opponent as she wrenched her wrist against Aron's thumb, pulling it from her grasp. She rotated her arm around, gaining ground on her left elbow as she made for a right punch at her ribs, the only thing she could hit from her position.

As Aronel felt Matsi's weight leaving her- flipping bck over her head- she twisted onto her feet, momentarily losing Matsi's position in th process. Listening intently for her opponent, it was only as she felt the fist connecting with her ribs that she found Matsi's position again; she was able to move back with the attack just enough that it didn't cause any major harm, and stepped around, bringing her fist to where she assumed the side of Matsi's face to be.

The fist connected with her left cheekbone and nose, knocking her back momentarily. She went with the motion and dropped into a rightward squat, landing on her hands and swinging out her right foot behind Aron's legs, hoping to knock her down again and gain the higher ground.

Matsi's foot caught Aron by surprise, but she fall back with the naturl flow of gravity, tucking her head forward and rolling back, easily findig her feet again. Now in a crouching position, she continuted on with the flow, twisting her left leg out, aiming for the side of Matsi's neck; if her kick struck true, Matsi would be temporarily knocked out. If not, the two would continue their battle. Aron smirked, keeping her senses locked onto Matsi.

She watched as her opponent fell and righted herself, which gave her time to rise a bit and catch the kick in her shoulder. It was quite painful, and it knocked her backwards, but she wasn't out of the running yet. It managed to put her into complete defensive mode, her legs ready to give a solid gut kick if Aron came after her.

Instead of going after Matsi immediately, Aron held back, head tilted slightly to one side as she listened intently for the smallest of movements from Matsi. She almost laughed- this was one of her more fun battles, as Matsi was as full of surprises as Aron was- but knowing this would compromise her ability to keep locked on Matsi's position, she kept quiet. Judging Matsi's defensive position, Aron took a few steps back and began to circle her slowly, her own stance defensive- for the moment. If and when she got close enough she would switch to the offense and strike quickly.

Matsi watched as Aron began her slow turn about her. She wondered how she knew where she was. It was almost magical to fight with the blind girl. She took the time to even her breathing and rise slowly to her feet, mimicking Aron's circle.

As they circled one another, Matsi began calculating, and after a moment took a quick shuffle-step toward Aron and lashed out with a kick aimed at her chest.

Again there was the sound of flesh whipping the air- this time from a lower point, and coming from a much larger, stronger piece of flesh. Aron caught the kick with a low grunt, and grabbing the leg, twisting and falling simultaneously, hoping again to throw Matsi to the ground with the force. This battle seemed to be going on forever, though since Aron was so enjoying it, she hardly gave a care. Had she been paying less attention to Matsi, she would have given pause to notice the small group gathering to watch the two- the group who seemed to be enjoying the match as much as she was.

Matsi's eyes widened as her opponent turned against her leg, swinging her downward and slapping her into the dust. It had been some time since she had the breath knocked out of her, but she would have been lying if she said she wasn't winded. She raised her arms in a general defensive motion, but if she couldn't breathe, she couldn't do much else.

Taking full advantage of the situation- she had heard the breath huffing from her opponent- heard the slap of flesh on ground where she fell- Aron gave a full-forced punch toward Matsi's face; purposefully missing to land her fist just beside Matsi's head; a show of what she could have done. She smirked down at Matsi, controlling the breath that tried to come in heavy gasps from exertion. "Do you yield, Matsi of Ethia?"

The winded Matsi had little choice. She nodded, then, realizing the mistake, let out a rattled, "yes," with a wry grin.

She rose and bowed her head to her opponent, just as she would any other, "You fight with great heart."

It had been fun. The smaller girl was quick; her uncanny ability to tell where Matsi had been throughout the fight had given her an edge of surprise. Rising, she bowed her head to the small group of onlookers before turning back to the other pair. She wondered how their fight was going and just who her next opponent would be.