1263/Rocking Rocks

Rocking Rocks
Date of Scene:	04 January 2015
Location:	Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
Synopsis:	Rock Lee meets Toph in the Ring of Philosophy for some brief sparring.
Cast of Characters:	20, 678

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    A tired yawn leaves the young earthbender where she stands in the middle of the arena she has prepared for sparring at the Ring of Philosophy. It's even earlier in Malibu where she had headed from, and while she had planned on working on her sandbending at the beach, why not have some fun with the new members and check what they are capable of?

    Even more reason when she can get some decent breakfast from them too.

    The young girl is wearing her bending outfit, her hair mostly obscuring her face where she stands with her arms crossed across her chest, feet apart and her back straight. Though she does look slightly tired even as she reaches a hand up to pick at her nose. All in all people who know her would know she's in her element as the arena is filled with earth, rocks, as well as metal beams rising from the ground here and there.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
When Rock Lee arrives, he slides to a sudden stop in front of her. He's only about six inches taller than her, but unlike most people, she can probably tell that under his jumpsuit, he's like a walking sack of compact muscle due to his constant training. And has ninja tools hidden all over the damned place in incredibly improbable ways.

"You wear green too!" he notes, before holding out a simple green bento box. "There is a banana and strawberry protein smoothie in the thermos! And for a sandwich, I made a whole-grain turkey, chicken, beef and bacon sandwich with curry sauce! The meat will make you stronger!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Huh, that was fast. Toph blinks when the unfamiliar figure arrives, and she doesn't even raise her head up. Instead she stands still until the bento and thermos is offered, offering a brief nod. "Thanks, Rocky. And yeah, meat is good." While she isn't as fond of meat as Sokka is, she never says no to bacon, nor the other things. Unlike him the girl is small without too much muscle to her, but she isn't skinny either. For now though she walks over to the edge of the arena and puts the food down before she stretches her arms up above her head with another yawn. "So... you wanted to see me fight, huh?" she asks, not looking back at him just yet. "You were a ninja, huh? You do any of that crazy fire stuff?"

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Nope! I cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu! I am the only known ninja who can only use taijutsu! So just martial arts and making my body stronger and stronger!" Lee explains as he starts to do a few stretches, pulling his arms this way and that, then he stretches one of his legs up to his chest. "I definitely want to see you fight!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Okay, that brings up the question... what is ninjutsu and genjutsu?" she asks. Though huh, only martial arts? "Lots of people who only fight like that, nothing wrong with it," Toph states with a shrug, then she turns around, closing her eyes like she promised... though she can't help but wonder just how long it will take for him to catch on. That's part of the fun in this, after all!

    Adapting a defensive stance with her feet apart and her arms held up in front of her, palms facing inwards, Toph exhales. "Whenever you are ready."

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Ninjutsu is shooting fireballs, making clones of yourself, and things like that! Genjutsu are mental illusions! It is considered a handicap for a ninja to only be able to use taijutsu, but I have learned to turn it into my strength!" Rock Lee watches her, reading her body as he sinks back into his balanced stance. One arm behind his back, the other hand held out in front of him.

"I am always ready!" He suddenly rushes forward, moving -very- swiftly. Her age doesn't seem to make him hold back like most people might, perhaps a cultural thing. But he immediately jumps up and attempts to spin his leg around, aiming his shin right for the side of her face.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The explanation does earn a nod as it makes some sense, and Toph smirks slightly. Turning a weakness into a strength? How can't she help but approve of that? "People will always tell you what makes you weak, don't they...?" she grins impishly where she stands. But it's clear that he isn't blowing hot air... through her seismic sense it's very clear that this guy isn't an amateur. His stance... it's perfectly balanced, and while an earthbender would have preferred a stance lower to the ground, it isn't bad depending on the style he uses.

    Man, he's /fast/! Toph's eyebrows arches, and she feels how he kicks off of the ground with a spin to it. A spinning kick, huh? Toph's right hand is thrown up, and in response the earth between her and Lee shifts, a thick earthen pillar shooting up. At the same time Toph ducks forward, her left foot stepping hard down as another earthen spike shoots out next to her and towards the ninja. Seems she isn't holding back either.

    All through this Toph has her eyes closed, a look of concentration on her face.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
Lee suddenly goes off-balance when the pillow rises beneath them. He wasn't expecting -that-. His eyes are wide and he's too distracted by that to be ready for the pillow that smacks directly into him.

He goes flying throught he air, then rolling across the ground until he stops on his feet, crouched and sliding backward. "Whoa! You do not have to use hand seals, so I was not expecting that!" He stares at the ground as he continues, stomping it a few times as if to test something.

"Alright!" He charges forward again, and given the way he pushes off the ground, it likely seems as if he's going to go for another attack in the air. But instead of actually reaching her body, he slams a hard kick into the upper side of the pillar, trying to send it, and her, flying. "People always say that I cannot be a good ninja with only taijutsu, so I work hard every day, as much as I can, to show them otherwise!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Even after her defense and attack does what they were supposed to, Toph doesn't relax. Though she also doesn't push it further, giving Lee a moment to get back up and attack her again. "Bending is done with your entire body and mind. Though it requires movement of some type," the girl informs him. "Though the various bending forms are different. Earth is about substance, fire is power, air is freedom... and water is just wishy washy." The ground underneath him is steady for now, and the earthbender is ready when he kicks off again.

    When he kicks into the pillar with enough force to send it flying towards her, it seems Toph is ready yet again as she steps forward, pulling her right arm back before she punches into the pillar, shattering it into dust and debris that whirl up around her. "Not bad, breaking a pillar with brute force alone," she offers. He has to be strong with those damn heavy weights on his legs though...

    Again Toph kicks into the ground, and another pillar shoots up. But this time Toph throws both her hands forward in a split palm attack, and a large rock shoots out of it and right towards Lee!

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
Lee takes a deep breath as he lands and the rock goes flying toward him. Obviously trying to deflect this isn't going to do much good against -her-. "I see! You are a range fighter. I understand now. And bending is very impressive, I can only imagine what it is like to move the Earth in such a way!"

He charges toward the rock that's flying at him, leaps on top of it with a single foot. Then when it seems as if he's going to launch off of it and attack her, he pushes against it, but instead of getting leverage, the rock -spins, and his eyes go wide.

This causes him to roll into the ground and start tumbling toward her in a ball, seemingly out of control. Then suddenly he pushes his hands against the ground and tries to launch both of his feet into her stomach!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "I can fight up close too unless you're scared!" she offers, then her brow furrows when she feels him kick off... in the direction of the rock itself? Frowning, Toph prepares to react to an attack, but then she hears and feels him crashing into the ground and roll towards her. What. The...?

    But the moment his hands push into the ground, the earthbender can't help but open her eyes wide in surprise, and she steps to the side, barely avoiding getting kicked in the abdomen, though it's almost too close for comfort!

    In response the blind girl throws her left hand forward twice, and a series of thin pillars shoot out diagonally from the ground, aimed at the ninja.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"You opened your eyes!" Lee notes as he begins back flipping to avoid the first few pillars, then the last one smacks him in the gut and flings him back into the ground. "Ow..."

He rubs his stomach, pulling his legs up and launching himself back up to his feet. "Hmm..." He seems to take a few moments, staring at her, then their surroundings, then he eyes her feet. "I see!" He doesn't say -what- he sees exactly, but out of the blue, he slams his fist into the ground, -hard-.

It sends a hard shockwave through the rocks, and he uses the momentum in that punch to fling himself through the air. He seems to still be testing things, so he sends a good five kunai into the ground at different points of the arena, before trying to drop his entire body down onto her from above.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph does close her eyes again, standing ready to defend again and perfectly willing to let him think this through. Instead she waits patiently, listening and ready. When he slams his fist into the ground she steps forward, feeling how he throws himself up into the air with a /punch/ of all things. The kunai that are thrown doesn't seem to trouble Toph, though she throws her arms out to the side when they hit the ground, and the five metal knives are thrown back up as earthen pillars rises up underneath them simultaneously. It is hard to aim them at Lee when he is in the air, and even if he is armed with more metal, it's a bit unfamiliar and tough for her to sense at the moment.

    And while she is trying to avoid the attack, she isn't exactly successful, letting out a yelp as she feels him crashing down on her. Even as she is falling down though, she punches up with her right fist, though it's not aimed at him. "Get off!" The rock pillar that shoots up from the ground next to them is, however.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
The kunai are deflected with -more- kunai, which causes a good ten of them to land on the ground now. "My plan did not work at all! Well, the landing on top of you part d--"

Smack.

Rock Lee is rolling across the ground again. Then when he begins to push up, looking over at her. "I do not understand... I have attempted to distract your senses, and avoid being in the ground. I have even stopped talking! I can see that the purpose of your lack of shoes is to feel the vibrations in the ground, otherwise, given what I have observed of how your earthbending works, it would be more dangerous not to use shoes!"

He starts to push himself up to his feet now, staring around at the deflected kunai. "Perhaps you could have super hearing, but that was five kunai at once, and you were clearly trying to avoid my attack! There is something else... something I am not understanding yet..." Namely, he has not yet gotten that she can sense earth.

"Alright then!" He bursts forward, -much faster than before, then extends his arms as bandages unwrap from them. He tries to wrap them tightly around her ankles. "I may not know how your senses work, but I believe you have to be touching the ground to bend earth!" Which is why, if he successfully wraps her ankles, he's going to jump into the air and -tug-.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    A grumble leaves Toph as she gets back up, and she adapts a defensive stance once more, listening. But from what he says it does seem like he has noticed something about her fighting style, though he hasn't figured it all out. "I am not easily distracted. And my hearing /is/ sharper than most people's," Toph admits. It's not like she will explain it all at once when it's fun having him be guessing.

    It seems to catch her by surprise when he is much faster than before, and now that she's not concerned with keeping her eyes closed anymore, the surprise should be pretty easily read on her face. The bandages aren't seen though, and with his sudden speed it's tough for Toph to react accordingly. Her ankles are wrapped, and when he jumps into the air she lets out a cry out surprise as the world suddenly turns upside down! "CRUDDIN' HELL?!" she exclaims out loud. But her arms are still free...

    A creaking sound from below is the only warning Lee gets at first, and then several of the large metal beams littering the arena bend and fly upwards as Toph directs towards where she can feel herself being tugged towards, her expression determined and a bit annoyed!

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
Lee seems as if he's going to move into some other technique, but when the metal beams begin to fly at him, the bandages release and he begins trying to run along the side of them. He tries to keep his eyes on her though, which is pretty hard when trying to dodge metal. "Right! Metal is earth! I did not think of that..."

When one beam flies at him, it causes him to slip from one of the beams he was running along, and he lands crouched on the ground. "You were in the air that time, when you moved those... so you are aware of earth no matter where it is? Or perhaps only metal..." He sounds a little confused, possibly still trying to figure out the metal/earth thing.

"You are -very- difficult to hit! It is almost like fighting Gaara, except without sand! And now there is metal, so I cannot simply force my way through..." He stands up straight now, taking a deep breath. "If I could find some kind of weakness in your defense..."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    If he hadn't released her, then it would have been harder. But Toph falls down, and she slams her hands together, causing the earth underneath her to soften into sand, and her landing is less rough as she winces and rolls over onto her side. Luckily for Lee the metal beams fall back to the ground, and Toph throws her arms to the side to make sure they don't land on her. "You really think I'm going to explain all how it works? I know you're thinking loudly and all, but seriously," Toph says as she rubs her shoulder. Good thing the Ring fixes these things!

    "Also, I have no clue who you are talking about," she informs him as she gets to her feet, kicking the sand as it turns more solid again. Though she turns away from him and marches over to where the bento box and thermos is. "And of course I'm difficult to hit, dunderhead. I told you I am the greatest earthbender of all time." Reaching the edge of the arena she sits down, opens the bento box... and begins to eat. "You got to see my bending, I got breakfast. And I didn't look either, like I promised."

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"You opened your eyes at the end!" Lee points out as he heads over to her, then he drops down and crosses his legs in front of her. "That was a great workout though! Maybe if we are ever against each other in an official competition, I will remove my weights and push you to the limit! I bet you can go much further than you did, your power is amazing..."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    At that Toph lets out a snort. "Pffft, like it matters!" she says, reaching a hand up to pull down the lower eyelid of her left eye. "Open, closed... it's not gonna make me see any more or any less anyway." And she eats without being bothered that he sits down in front of her, eating away at the sandwich. "Whah yah wear those heavy weights anyway?" she asks with her mouth full of food as she chews. Of course she knows her power is amazing. "And ah know." For now the blind girl is happily eating her breakfast.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Whoa! You are blind? That is -very- impressive. Usually even people with working eyes cannot block my kicks very easily!" Lee moves his hand in front of her face and waves it a few times, eyes wide and bushy brows furrowed with curiosity. "Oh! My weights are to make me stronger and faster. I never remove them unless I absolutely need to. When I'm protecting someone or defending my ninja way! I wear them all the time."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "You didn't get that before...?" Toph blinks and arches an eyebrow where she sits. "And seeing people fail to see a lot most of the time if you ask me. You're fast, you got that going for you. Should give you an edge when fighting the Feds." The wave in front of her face is ignored at first, though she does sigh. "I can tell what you are doing. And I think most blind people can."

    Wearing weights to make himself stronger and faster seems like a really weird way, but hey, if it works, why not? "Heh, sign up for the WMAT, and if you're strong enough to fight in the C bracket, then we might end up fighting each other." There is no way she is going to go for easy fights in that tournament. Unless it's an exhibition fight that is and it's going to be fun.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"Is that a tournament? I will definitely sign up!" Lee takes his hand back, then suddenly drops backward, lifting himself up onto his hands so that he's walking upside down. "I did not realize you were blind, your senses are actually incredible. And ninja are trained to use senses other than sight as well, so it did not seem strange that you could fight with your eyes closed. It was just... you did it -very- well."

He starts to walk around on his hands, surveying the damage of the area. "I will walk on my hands today. It trains your arms -and- your core! Also reflexes and body awareness!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The question warrants a nod, and Toph swallows the food in her mouth, speaking before she takes another bite of the sandwich. Not too bad, huh. "Yeah, a yearly tournament thing. Great fun."

    As for her blindness.... "Some people use bending just for fighting. I use it for everything." Which is why she's so good at it.

    This guy takes training to a whole new level though. Seriously, walking on his hands for today? Does he mean /all day/? But she doesn't comment further on it. "My feet will do well enough for me." Another bite of her sandwich and it's gone with some chewing, and then the young girl lets out a massive burp even as she reaches for the smoothie, opening it. "Fighting is the only thing I am really good at, so of course I'm good at it." She tips her head back as she raises the thermos to her mouth, and she seems intent on downing the thick drink all at once.

Rock Lee (678) has posed:
"I use taijutsu for everything too! I could eat with my feet if I wanted to!" Lee says as he bends his legs forward to try and pick up a rock, which he seems to be having trouble with, as he keeps kicking it forward and away from himself. "Can you punch and kick, or can you only fight with the earth?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The blind girl finishes off the thermos, all the smoothie gone as she pulls the container away from her mouth and lets out another massive burp. Yum! "If I were to eat with my feet, then I think people would complain," Toph snickers, just imagining what Pepper would say at the dinner table.

    "I don't have the same strength and speed that you do, though I can punch and kick too. Though I prefer fighting with the earth." With the food and drink now gone Toph rises to her feet, then nods. "Sorry, but I really ought to get home now, the chocobos need feeding, and I have to finish up some stuff there. But I assume you won't ignore the channels. Thanks for the sparring and thanks for the grub!" With that Toph offers a brief salute before she heads for the door.