World Tree MUSH

    Rhodes Island, Training Room, local time: 17:38.

    Scavenger doesn't do crowds. So after the majority of the afternoon Operator group has vacated the training room, the Zalak arrived. She's wearing a tank top, training pants and has wraps around her hands as she head over to the punching bags.

    This is where she'll be found, beating seven shades out of one of the big hanging bags and making the thing sway wildly with each strike.

    The training room might remind Catra of the Fright Zone, though it doesn't have any of the hologram tech.. or live fire robot enemies.

    "Pretty sweet digs you've got here. It's like if the Fright Zone was on wheels. Or. Tank treads. Or. However this place gets around," Catra speaks up. She can be found doing her thing, leaning against a nearby wall, watching Scavenger work that bag like it tried to steal her lunch money. "Just a little more... analog?" she shrugs her shoulders.

    The felinoid creature has since doffed her cloak, battered thing that it was, and is left in her more singular snug bare-armed and stirruped-stockings attire. She pushes herself off of the all and approaches the bag nearest Scavenger's own little smashing operation and gives it a few light raps with her knuckles like she was knocking on a door.

    "You mentioned this 'Fright Zone' before. Sounds like a dismal place." replies the Zalak without looking over. She reels back and slams her fist square center-mass of the bag, and snaps the chain holding it up, causing the assembly to thud dully to the floor. "I don't know how it works. A combination of factors to keep moving, and out of the path of the Catastrophes. Just like all the mobile cities, just on a more compact scale." She looks down at the bag with a huff, then turns to look at Catra, arms folding over her chest.

    A low whistle escapes the girl, her arms folding across her modest chest. "Yeah, about as dismal as those slums we found you and your people in. Just... you know..." she shrugs her shoulders. "Half industrial complex half military base? Everyone there was a soldier of some sort. Lots of shadows to creep around in, too," she gives a lopsided grin. "You uh, need help with that?" she jerks a clawed thumb towards the fallen bag. "You hit pretty hard."

    "I'll flag it for the maintenance team... I told them to reinforce the chains last time." Scavenger brushes off the inquiry, waving one hand. "There's plenty of quiet place around here too. If you know where to look." The Zalak's ears flick toward the doors on the far side of the training room as they open and a couple of Lupo regulars walk in, spot the Vanguard and turn right back around and leave again. "I don't like being out in the open." she adds afterward, glancing sidelong at the feline Etherian.

    Catra unfolds her arms again and gives the bag next to her a few more experimental knocks before putting a couple more earnest bats at it. Nothing truly vigorous, more like a cat indeed playing with something. It's more of a casual fidgeting as she converses with the Zalak. "Yeah, I don't either. Hard to catch a nap or something when all eyes are on you," she rolls her shoulders and keeps poking the bag with light punches, her tail swaying back behind her in an amused fashion. "So those Reunion guys suck. They were picking on some kids before Melog and I ran into those 'friends' of your harassing your crew," she says 'friends' as sarcastically as possible.

    "Probably looking for new recruits... did those children have any... strange lesions that you could see? Like, black stones embedded in the skin?" asks Scavenger as she watches the feline. Her thin tail whipping slightly behind her. "Every member of Reunion has Oripathy... their message is one I could back. Equal rights for the Infected as those not Infected... but their methods are all wrong to actually get what they're calling for."

    Catra pauses her punching, letting the bag sway to a stop. "...huh? Now that you mention it, yeah. What's up with that? Some kind of weird crystal plague? Am I gonna get it by hanging around here too long?" she scrunches up her face giving a look of mock horror. Then she folds her hands behind her head and huffs, "Sound like a bunch of real jerks. Picking on kids and shooting up the place. Would've loved to sharpen my claws on some more of them..." she growls. "But what about you? What do you do? And what's Rhodes Island's deal?"

    "I don't know the details, you'd need to talk to one of the medical personnel about that... just steer clear of Kal'tsit and her labs." replies Scavenger. "Oripathy is caused by exposure to Originium without proper protection, mostly from Catastrophes. That's about all I know that's important." she adds then considers the questions. "I don't know you well enough to go talking about my personal life, but I'm a Vanguard Operator for Rhodes Island. That means I'm first in to a combat zone, and the last out."

    She stretches a little, popping her neck before continuing. "Rhodes Island has similar goals to Reunion. Advocating for equal rights, and seeking treatments and eventually a cure for Oripathy. Our methods however, are the opposite. Instead of attacking the cities, we offer our aid. Medical, or military. We network, we talk." she turns her back on Catra then. "Not that it's done much good so far... at least the Doctor is back."

    "Oh, like a shock trooper. I can get behind that," she says with a grin, looking Scavenger over a little more intently. "With a right hook like that, you could probably give Scorpia a knock she wouldn't forget!" she lowers her arms and goes back to idly batting at the punching bag, her attention span seeming to be a little more on the mercurial side. "I mean, sounds fun to me. Directing troops and stuff is all well and good but it's more fun being in the middle of it..."

    She gives the bag a swift kick suddenly, filling the air with a rather prounounced 'WHUMP'. "Sounds like you guys are going about stuff the right way, but I guess people aren't so interested in your sunshine and rainbows approach?"

    Scavenger moves to another bag. She goes at this one a bit less aggressively. "Unarmed isn't my specialty... just helps if I get caught in close quarters where my normal weapon isn't effective." she remarks, "It's nt about interest as it is trust... Rhodes Island lost its leader a while back. We only just got them back recently. They were our public face and a lot of people trusted them." She brings a leg up and slams it into the bag, making it rock and the chain complain but not snap just yet. "We're getting back on track now. I heard the higher ups are talking to the leaders of Lungmen about a more formal arrangement... that was part of why my team was in the slums to begin with."

    "Oh yeah you had that big-ass sword, right? I mean, I get it. Something about a familiar weapon. I've got a couple of things I favor but..." She stops her assault on the bag and pokes it extra carefully with her claws. "I've always preferred the hands-on approach?" Catra looks over and shrugs. "Huh.." she trails off a little, watching the woman fight, her tail swaying slowly with interest. "So that's how it all is. And then those clowns showed up and set you all back a bunch? Then you got us weirdos from Elsewhere," she emphasizes the word, "Getting in your business. Hope ya don't mind."

    Scavenger looks over. "I did notice the claws." is all she says on that matter. A few light jabs set the bag swinging again. "Not my call on minding, even if I did care either way. I get paid to beat up Reunion, and mutated animals, not worry about politics." She spins, and backhands the bag, before grabbing it to stop it swinging. "At least as far as I know, we're appreciative that there's other people out there that think the same way we do. Like, a multi-universe sanity check."

    "Yeah they're pretty great aren't they?" Catra preens a little, grinning as she focuses her mismatched eyes on Scavenger for a moment. "Kinda hard to train in a place like this though," she huffs at the bags. "I wouldn't want to rip up your stuff," she prods the bag again, careful with her claws. Then she nods over at the other woman, moving closer but staying just out of swinging range. "Right? You think you're doing the right thing but shit here's bad and you're trying to swim up a waterfall. Then you figure out other folks from elsewhere are willing to make the swim with you."

    Scavenger shrugs, arms folding again as Catra approaches. Yellow eyes appraise the Etherian, then she gestures with her chin. "Wanna spar? You'll have a hard time ripping me up."

    Catra's brows lift, her eyes widening. "What, you're serious?" she asks, tilting her head, laughing. "I mean it beats sitting around until lunch time. I'm here 'til you guys don't need me around, and I don't have anything better to do. But my claws *are* pretty sharp, I'll warn you!" she grins, full of pride.

    The Zalak turns and walks out to the more open area of the training room. One clearly designated for sparring matches from the markings on the floor. She stretches, pops her knuckles and shoulders then brings her fists up in a mixed boxing stance. "We'll see... Rhodes Island never discards people... so you might be here a long time." she then gives a small, tight smirk. "You need to hit something to cut it." she goads, bounding on the balls of her feet.

    Following, Catra nods at the mention of Rhodes Island. "...yeah? That'd be nice to happen once in my life," she mutters bitterly under her breath. Then she picks up at the teasing. "Pfffft don't give me that! Same goes for you too, then!" She doesn't get into a stance, or even bobs or bounces. "So, who's going first?" she asks, flexing her fingers, rubbing her thumbs against her palms one, then the other.

    Scavenger's only response is to turn one fist palm up, extend the fingers and make a beckoning gesture before resuming the fist.

    "Well, if you insist then," Catra shrugs and gives her shoulders a roll, making a little show of it as she puts a momentary bounce in the balls of her feet. Then she lunges at Scavenger, putting some of her Horde training to good use and swinging a closed fist right for Scavenger's middle. She might be small and lithe but she can swing for the fences when she's giving it a solid go--and not phoning it in.

    She would, later, claim it was surprise; but Catra's fist connects solidly with the Zalak's midsection. Scavenger staggers back a half-step... but it's like punching one of those training bags. Despite her own lithe frame she's built pretty solid.

    With the first blow out of the way, the Zalak brings out her own attack, going in for a flurry of much lighter blows.

    "Ha! You asked for--!" Catra takes a moment to gloat over landing the first hit, distracting her enough to be surprised when Scavenger not only recovers fast but returns the favor. She has to bring her arms up, taking the brunt of the flurry directly on those forearms as she blocks and backpedals. "Hey--! Cut it -OUT!-" she hisses and drops down, using her flexibility to get under the swings and sweep her legs at the Zalak's ankles.

    Zalak, meet floor. Floor, Zalak. Scavenger is so focussed on putting Catra on the back-foot that she forgets about her own feet. The sudden dip and leg sweep puts her flat on her back, knocking the wind out of her briefly. She rolls away from Catra, building a bit of momentum to sweep back to her feet; she then reverses momentum and charges in, bringing a leg up high to ax-kick down onto Catra's shoulder as she gets back up.

    Catra can't help herself, laughing and having a good time. It's clear she's not taking this seriously, the look on her face one of mirth and a flash of excitement in her eyes. "Ha! Got you agai--oof!" she still hasn't figure out just how *fast* Scavenger is, her usual aggresssors much slower. She's able to somewhat roll with the kick as not to wind up with a broken shoulder or a cracked collarbone, but it sends her down to the floor just as hard as her sweep left the Zalak.

    She pulls and puffs a hard breath before digging her claws into the floor, sinking the wickedly sharp nails into the metal before bowing her back and flinging her lower body up. From prone to a hand-spring kick, the agile Etherian aims to slam both feet right into Scavenger's chest and right herself at the same time.

    "KRH" is all the sound Scavenger can make as those feet land square in her chest and send her skidding backwards again. She stumbles, lands hard on her tail, then rolls back to her feet with a cough.

    Once she's back up, she brings her arms back into a defensive position and advances in. "You talk a lot. Is this normal on your world?" she asks, actually waiting for the answer fully, before resuming fighting.

    After Catra answers, she feints left then brings a right hook around.

    When that strike meets Scavenger, she uses the force of the kick to backflip and land steadily and safely on her own two feet, righted and safe. At the question, she just shrugs and laughs, "I mean, I like to talk a lot of shit," she grins, showing her teeth. "And when you piss someone off, they get sloppy. So, it's a valid tatic," she shrugs, lifting her arms before getting back into a fighting stance. She falls for the feint, but only so much, her eyes widening at the last moment when the punch catches her just enough to make an impact and send her off balance.

    "Besides...!" she huffs, leaning into the motion of her descent, swinging a kick to Scavenger's side. "I'm having fun!"

    Scavenger lets the kick hit her side while moving away from it slightly to blunt the impact... then she loops her arm around it to pin it there. "That is an effective strategy. If your opponent allows emotion to drive them." she replies, before using the pinned leg as a lever and begins to swing the Etherian around... releasing her at the apex of the swing.

    "Oh..." Catra blinks when she's grabbed like that, and finds the other woman's strength and advantageous hold impossible to slip free of. "..ah...aha.." she laughs, a little uneasy as she starts to swing. "Yeah that does make it kinda hard!" she shouts as she gets hurled. There's a little panicked twist of her body as she tries to have a -safe- landing, if not a -graceful- one, and fails to do more than land heavily in a heap, tumbling a few feet before her claws dig in and she leaves some marks in the floor. 

    Then she drags herself to her feet, rubbing her shoulder where the kick had landed earlier, "...never seen anyone fight like you. It's uh. Pretty impressive. I'd hate to be on the other side of that hunk of metal you call a sword, too."

    Scavenger, taking the lack of attack to be a yielding, drops her guard and chuckles dryly. "I'm very good at what I do." is all she says in response. "Your fighting style is unique, at least." The Zalak then gestures. "Lets go get something to eat... I'll show you some of those dark places I mentioned."

    "Ya look good doing it, too," Catra winks, closing the distance as she approaches Scavenger. She playfully pokes her in the shoulder though before folding her hands up behind her head, "Boop. Got you back." Her tail continues to sway with energy behind her, though, and she nods. "That'd be nice. Melog's better at finding them than I am, but your food here's good." Her shoulders lift in a shrug, though, as she trails along at the other girl's side, "I mean. Horde soldiers all got a great education in beatdowns, but I'm better at doing my own thing. No heavy armor for me, either, so I mix it up, you know?"

    "Mobility is king when you're a Vanguard." remarks Scavenger as she turns to head out toward the messhall again. "The Defenders have the thick plates... the Guards get some heavier armour, depending on who you talk to." she shrugs, opening the door and gesturing Catra through first.

    "Vanguard... Defender... Guard..." Catra flips through the words and rolls her eyes. "Never had anything that fancy. Tank driver. Staff guy. Turret gunner. I mean. Yeah they had jobs but it sounds like you lot are more organized, too," she swishes her tail and blinks at the open door. "Maybe you guys can hook me up with a decent weapon if I'm going to be sticking around." She grins and heads into the canteen to have some grub with the ratte.