14875/Orphans and Daughters

Orphans and Daughters
Date of Scene:	08 May 2023
Location:	Sheldon Park - Bleake Island
Synopsis:	Cassandra spars with Talia. Talia actually gets in a couple hits.
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Cassandra Cain

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
She had seen the somewhat faded notes of Cassandra vanishing, coming bcak hurt, and then vanishing again. Talia had spent little time with Cassandra. Not since the girl had been working 'security'. She had not known what Cassandra had taken herself in pursuit (or lack thereof) of Shiva.
    So, on one of these days where Cassandra had come and gone hurt, Talia had gone after her. There was no way she could sneakily follow after Cassandra, so she had just gone towards wheres he was reasonably sure Cassandra's nearest outside bolt hole was, coming towards it at a jog, a large wooden swor don her back.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
I know that you're there.

She doesn't need to say it. The two of them would know, since the birds are quieter and the trees shift differently. There's subtleties to this, and while Talia may have the age, Cass has the talent.

Unfortunately when Talia's head is expected to come around the corner, Cass' leghold trap maneuver closes on air. Cass slides out, her legs scizzoring, and misses.

She was expected?

Talia al Ghul has posed:
There's no question about it. experience? Talia has it. Cassandra has more. Training from hell? Talia has it. Cassandra has more. Skill and power? Talia has it. Cassandra has more. Talia's not been subtle enough so as to presume tha tshe could sneak up over on Cassandra, so she was expecting a welcoming.

Still, an ambush is an unwelcome reminder. She would go to dive to the side as the leg snap would come down. Then she goes to flip out the sword, twirling it in front of her and beckoning to the girl. "you've seemed rather bored lately."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass comes up from the ground with a grab, trying to get ahold of Talia's wrist. The sword snapping into place alters the way she moves, the top of the arm exposed rather than the palm. Red Room classic, it keeps the veins in the wrist protected but still lets her contine the movements.

So obvious, as Cass circles and keeps the sword in front of her, she gives herself away.

Still, the tactic is sound. Cass crosses her arms and slides low, then vaults up into the sword's range. The rush tactic is multi-angled and is brilliant at forcing a sword user to either retreat or lose the weapon.

And it'd work if Talia hadn't already learned the countermove..

Talia al Ghul has posed:
That's the thing. This is all very, very predictable. Move, countermove, coutner-counter move. Like the first exchanges in chess. They all go the same way. Smooth. A utomatic. It's a routine. And Talia just smiles as she recognizes it and adapts. She's seen very well how the Red Room conditions it's soldiers.
    The rush tactic is conditioned on the opponent having to reply over to the rush. There's little room to counter-attack. One has to dodge or go defensive. There's little room to maneuver, and it lets the attacker control the movement in the battle. The motions so rapid as to be automatic.
    Even if one knows it's coming, they can't move fast enough. Talia. . Does know wha'ts coming.. And she can move nearly fast enough.
    The sword withdraws. Her off-hand goes to quickly strike. An attempt is made at a quick crossblow with her palm as Cassandra would vault. Rather than at the central part of the torso, where normally the person struck would roll with the blow to minimize the impact.. Talia goes to strike her high on the shoulder.
    The normal counter-counter to this in training would be to snap around the arm to block the worst of the blow.. Which would give Talia a moment to go for a quick pressure point strike if Cassandra acted the way she was conditioned.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
So when Cass gets hit, and spins around to grab the arm, she almost snaps in anger as she's hit with the pressure point strike. It sends her down, her left arm drooping, unuseable, and her legs wide. She looks ANGRY, which is not the usual state at this point in a fight.

But then, she turns it off. The anger, the emotions. She shakes it off, visibly, and looks at Talia. The calm is what they aspire to, but even the Red Room girls don't usually get there. That level of control is abnormal.

But, really? The rest is almost boring. She's fast, but ..wait. Who taught her to stop fighting?

This is new, the girl is staying where she is and watching. That isn't in Red Room tactics, they're taught to not expose themselves. Move without stopping, attack and never let up the pressure.

Someone has a slightly different playbook! This might be fun after all!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul goes to keep her weapon over in front of her, casual and defensive with the wooden sword held up. "My, you're in a mood. As I was saying.. You seem rather bored. You've been going out and doing your own routine, haven't you?" Talia doesn't go on the attack. The Red Room is all about offense. Speed, power, strength. Attack an opponent. If you can't hurt them, you can keep knocking htem back. Make them get tired, angry, show a weakness you can exploit. Give them no time to rally, just to defend themselves.

Talia goes to glance at the daughter of the dragon. "Or are you looking for something that you have yet to find?" SHe would offer. Still not attacking. But not attempting to bait or draw Cassandra into it.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
No words to respond, Cass would be remiss if she spoke to this woman. It's not her style. Though she's still not certain exactly how the eff the woman was reading her so easily, she sees that this is, in fact the case.

Or that's how it looks anyway, as she keeps her eyes locked on the woman before her. Just barely out of range. Talia's ability with a sword is honed to a razor's edge, and Cass is almost a half-inch too far away. Which is clearly on purpose, she knows how long the arm and weapon are as well, and what it can do.

Then she shifts her arms, bringing the armor hidden beneath into play. She shifts in, prepared to ward off the blade, and ...her left arm still isn't moving right. It's a gamble, but she has been taught to press the offense..

Talia al Ghul has posed:
That's the bait. The words given, and Cassandra's lulled over to the attack. The girl moves so cleanly that even Talia's keen eyes can't tell that she has the armor on. But she's just going through the motions here to catch Cassandra's attention. Amused at the girl finding -just- that appropriate line over to go on the offensive at and how far to push herself. Cassandra knows how many inches she has to work with and Talia's own speed and reflexes..

The normal routine with an injury is still offense. Be willing ot accept further damage in return for accessibility to strikes. What they can't hit they can bulldoze through. The objective is the only thing htat matters. IF they have to use part of themself that's already hurt to do it.. Just use the injured arm as a shield if they have to to take a bullet or a blade.

And as Cassandra goes to shift to bring her arm up to a readied stance.. Talia goe son the attack. SHe's focusing on the slightly disabled arm.. The way that she's expected to be. Any fighter will try and hem down someone already hurt ot limit their ability further. This goes to the pattern.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass grinds her teeth.

The thing is, she's seen this happen. She watched her sisters train against the instructors, and she's SEEN this happen. She's watched the patterns too, and with a unique perspective she's actually smart enough to know about them. That's what made her better than the others in her class. That odd ability to introspect.

She can tell that she's being played, by Talia's body language. The little smile, the way that she gives her the moves. There's no way to hide that, not against her sharp eyes. It's just, not that easy to break the habits!

In proper Red Room fashion, she manages to work her way past the sword, her left arm starting to tingle with returning blood, and reaches for the neck-lock. But her every instinct is screaming not to, that it's a trap!

So many years of training though. You do the grab anyway.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
It's very much a game. Talia knows that Cassandra knows it's a trap. And yet the girl is going through the routine anyways. She's not so much preparing a counter to the trap as she is going through with it despite recognizing it. Perhaps there's some esoteric backstab in mind for the obvious coming trick. Cassandra goes in for her body, moving to strike out towards her neck..

And Talia goes to drop the sword to the side. A pushed button over on the handle, and the 'blade' would be ejected. Launched by built in air compressor. Shot into Cassandra's gut and bouncing off. Talia is hit by the neck strike.. But her attack would have in turn been crippling even wiht Cassandra's armor taking it.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
This is when Talia gets to be surprised. At least a little. Because that move landed, and it clearly knocked the wind out of Cassandra. With her hand on Talia's neck, grabbed, she's almost eye to eye with her, and Talia's hit landed hard. It made a serious sound, and Talia heard a rib crack. Possibly two.

And Cass...blinked.

Then she throws Talia, broken ribs and no air and all! She tosses her anyway, even with the pain and obvious broken bones. When Talia lands, she might reflect a moment that Cass' file said that she had a 'unique instructor' in her father. Who apparently taught her an ungodly level of pain suppression.

Though that wasn't as strong as it should have been. The throw I mean.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The exchange of blows is quick. The blade would have skewered Cassandra if it landed cleanly. but it's just a training weapon, and the blade would be spent for a one trick move. Not hte type someone would do in a fight. It's a toy. Not something one would bring for real or as a backup gimmick. it defeats the purpose. So it's technically a one off trick. But the trick only has to work once..
    Talia doesn't have room to -blink- as she's thrown hard as Cassandra moves faster thans he can process. She can barely recognize she's being thrown as she goes to tuck her legs up underneath her to lessen the impact, quickly snapping up slowly. "Shouldn't you be dead?" She would quip.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Clearly armored under the hoodie, Cass isn't talking. Which is probably at this point more the complete lack of oxygen more than then anger. She's walking up on Talia then, her stance saying calm rather than kill. Though her eyes are still narrowed.

Then she stumbles slightly, and her jaw tightens. Before her eyes roll up in her skull and she slumps to the ground.

She could have done it, right there. Killed Talia, when she was vulnerable. She created an opening. But now she's just trying to get air, consciousness fading.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
When Cassandra wakes up sometime later, they're at the nearest little boltholes that the Bats' have setup for them to have stashed medical supplies at. Cassandra has been mostly cleaned and bandaged, and now Talia is putting her at a position with a brace to help keep her chest stable.

"Are you having issues breathing? ANd how badly were you hurt before I added to it?"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass opens her eyes. She's quite capable of scanning the area without giving away that she's awake, if she has to, but this isn't the time. Also she's pretty certain that Talia taught that skill, so she'd spot it if it were used on her. She does, however, take a moment to scan herself.

She tenses her muscles. Not all at once, that'd be obvious and useless. Gently, carefully, testing each area and seeing what's going on. What can be relied on and what can't. Listening to the answers her body gives her.

"I can move," she says aloud. Lungs are clearly working as well. But she's not answering the second question.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would muse over then. "Very well. I won't assess your injuries beyond those I'm treating unless you give permission. But you? You recognizede what I was doing, and you went for it anyways. You could have stopped yourself or done something else, but you went with it." SHe's aware that words and emotions aren't how Cassandra expresses herself to the world.

So Talia settles for watchign Cassandra's body language to read her. She's hoping that Cassandra will be annoyed with herself enough to be actually expressive with them rather than just stony silence

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is actually shifting her neck, adjusting the bones inside, and making little cricking noises as she gets stuff aligned. She's not being stony silence, so much as ..well, it's either that she's thinking about it, or she's ignoring Talia entirely. It's hard to tell which.

Her eyes shift to Talia for a moment, a glance rather than an assessment. Then she seems to glower at the wall, before saying, "Hard." The chair is hard? Things are hard? It's hard to break bad habits?

The fact that she's even sitting here trusting Talia at all is a step up, honestly.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would nod over at Cassandra understandingly. Cassandra could read the nerves in her body to the point of knowing how Talia would move before she could conceive it. The girl's grasp of emotions? Tenuous.

"Hard." She would agree. Does the chair need cushions? Yes, yes it does. Her expression shifts to something more relaxed. Emotions now.

"Do you want help with it?" Yes, Cassandra didn't need her to speak to understand her words. And she would let the girl signal she didn't want to talk.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
And given the pout on the girl's face, it doesn't seem that she wants to. To be fair, she's not the type to ask for assistance. Ever. I mean, that's something else to discuss though. Another time.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would just shake her head over, "All right. You're bandaged up and I'll grant you your peace. But you're getting sloppy. I could have killed you there. You would have taken me down too.." She would deadpan.. "But not hte way you want to go out. Do think about yourself, Cassandra."